The Witch Miester
by Anime Ayumu
Summary: Shocking news: a witch has enrolled into the academy! But this is no ordinary witch, she brought a weapon too! But that's not the only thing she brought along...When hatred, love, mixed feelings and secrets come into the fold, how will the gang survive?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Ok, so here's a story that popped into my head one day while i was watching Soul Eater one day! i thought:

What would happen if a witch enrolled to the Academy?

and POOF! Hope you enjoy! (Rated T to be safe)

Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING~! X3

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><p>In the middle of Death City, Nevada, a person could be seen climbing the steps of Death Weapon Meister Academy. When the person reached the top, she tilted their head and stared up at the school. The person wore a long, dark navy-blue cloak. The hood was pulled on her head and their eyes, concealing her face. The person smirked.<p>

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

Instead of answering, the person drew out her arm out to the side and said,

"Soul Protect: Release."

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><p>Class Crescent Moon was in the middle of having a study hall when it happened. Maka suddenly felt an extreme power of a soul. It was so overpowering and fast that she dropped her pencil and gasped. She knew only one kind of person had that strong of a soul.<p>

"Witch!" Just like Soul's homecoming party, she shot up and randomly cried out the word. Soul looked at her in surprise.

"Hey Maka, what's wrong?" She didn't answer, but clutched her hands together, eyes wide.

"It's so strong…but it couldn't be! What would a witch be doing here; at the Academy?"

"Maka, what are you saying?" There was panic in his voice. "Do you mean there's a witch at the Academy?" They began to draw the attention of other students and a low murmur rose in the classroom.

Maka only nodded. "And she's strong too. Very strong…"

Suddenly, a loud explosion sounded and the school building trembled. The whole class ran out of the room, with Maka and Soul at the front. They were met with the cloaked figure.

"Soul!" Maka shouted. He didn't need to be told twice. In a flash (literally) he was a scythe Maka grabbed him and got in a ready stance.

All of a sudden Black Star appeared next to her. "Whose this joker?" he asked.

Maka answered through gritted teeth. "A witch."

"Huh? A witch? Damn, she's got a lot of nerve to just waltz in here and take _my_ spotlight! Tsubaki, kasarigama (sp?) mode!"

"Right!" She obeyed.

The witch began to raise her arms. The meister tightened the grip on their weapons. But then she simply put both hands in the air like she was being arrested.

"Relax, meisters," she said. Her voice was calm and soothing. "I come in peace. I mean no harm."

Maka shouted, "Oh yeah? And how are we supposed to believe you? You're a witch! The very race that—"

"That students of this Academy hunt down?" she interrupted. "Yes, I know. But if the fact that I had enough guts to release my Soul Protect here isn't enough proof, then take me to Lord Death. He'll tell you."

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Two minutes later, the gang and the witch were walking down the hall leading to the Death Room. She still hadn't taken her clock off. Maka walked in the front with a serious expression on her face, Soul next to her. The witch was next, head down, a shadow over her eyes. In the back was Black Star, who was glaring at the girl, and Tsubaki, nervously staring at the floor.

When they reached the room, Lord Death greeted them cheerfully. "Yah, yah. Hello, welcome all! I see we have quite the little party here."

"Hi, Lord Death," the group said in unison.

"So what brings you all here?" Lord Death asked. Maka got right to the point.

"Lord Death, this witch here says she knows you." She pushed the girl forward.

"Oh, yes. I remember her."

The four of them were shocked. "Huh?"

"It seems you've made it here after all. You know, you're very brave to come to the DWMA. You could get kicked off the Witch's Council for this."

"Well, you see that's exactly what I want." The girl lifted the hood off her head to reveal her face. She had silvery-blue hair that reached down to her hips and bright green eyes.

"Ah, yes I do see. So then that means you would like to enroll in the Academy?"

"Yes, that is correct. And you don't have to worry about having to assign me a partner. I'm sure you're well aware that I already have one." She reached beneath her cloak and pulled out a small rod. It was a light blue and bend into a crescent shape at the top where a small mirror was suspended. The rod began to glow in a golden light and it shot out of her hand and took the shape of a person. When the light faded, a boy stood before them, wearing an identical cloak and had the same silver-blue hair and green eyes.

"Greetings, Lord Death," he said. "It's been a long time."

"Oh, yes I remember you. Horace, is it?"

An anger mark appeared on his head. "My name is Baracs!" he cried. The girl sweatdropped and said, "You'll have to excuse him, he's kind of sensitive about his name."

"Um, excuse me?" The three of them looked over at Maka. "Care to tell us what's going on here?"

"Yeah," Soul said. "And how do you guys know each other anyway?"

"Well, that's a long story," Lord Death said. The girl lowered her eyes. "But that will be for another day. When the time is right."

Maka seemed to understand.

"Anywho, I'm sure you're all wondering why a witch is here and why she has a weapon." They nodded. "Well, these two are going to be your new classmates!"

"WHAT?"

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

The next day, the pair stood before Class Crescent Moon as the students looked at them curiously.

"Hello. My name is Alexandria Baracs and this is my twin brother." She gestured to the boy beside her. "He likes to go by our last name and if I told you what his first name was he'd probably kill me." Baracs nodded and said, "How you doin'?" Alexandria turned back to the class.

"Before you ask, yes, I am a witch. However, for personal reasons, I have enrolled in the DWMA with my brother as my weapon." Maka gritted her teeth as she glared at her. This did not go unnoticed by the witch.

"Look, in short you don't need to worry about my sister going all magic on you," Baracs said coolly. "We won't try to kill you, and you don't try to kill us. Deal?"

"We look forward to joining the student body here at the Academy." Alexandria smirked right at Maka. "I'm sure we'll be the best of friends."

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><p>AN: Didja like it? i think this is better than most of the stuff i've written. oh well. Review? X3

P.S. i'll (maybe) upload more schtick later this week. Gotta love Thanksgiving break!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Okey doke, 2nd chapter! btw, i have no idea where this is going so if you hav any suggestions or anything, PM me or somthing!

Disclaimer: as much as i want to, no I don't own Soul Eater

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><p>Chapter 2: Black Star's Big Challenge<p>

Throughout the day, the students kept a curious distance from the twins. Neither of them seemed to notice or even care for that matter. Both were completely engrossed in the lesson, hands shooting up at every question. The teacher would look around, hoping that one of the other kids would dare to raise a hand, but when they didn't, she sighed and called on one of them. They supplied the right answer, naturally. This fact ticked off Maka even more. She didn't like Alexandria the second she sensed her soul. Something was off about this whole situation. Why would Lord Death just accept a witch into the Academy all of a sudden? It didn't make any sense.

Finally the last class of the day ended, the bell releasing the students from the large classroom. Alexandria stood up and stretched while Baracs still sat with his hands folded behind his head, feet up and eyes closed. She flicked him in the forehead.

"Come on," she said. "Class is over, let's go."

"Hm?" He popped open one eye. "Oh, ok." Baracs got up and gathered his stuff before following his sister out of the classroom.

As the two walked down the halls, loud conversations lowered to hushed whispers as they passed by. No one dared to go near them, so they created almost a parted walkway for the twins, the other students off to the sides. Everyone stared. Neither noticed.

Black Star's patience was wearing thin. He didn't like these two. How dare they. How dare they burst through the doors grab all the attention they can! How dare they try and steal _his _spotlight! He was the great Black Star! The one who will surpass the gods! They weren't even worth _his _attention! Because of these thoughts, Black Star reasoned that he was just going to have to take them out…

"Hey, you! Witch!" Alexandria turned around.

"Huh?" She didn't see anyone.

"Up here, witch!" She looked up and saw Black Star standing on one of the top piers of the building.

"How much you wanna bet he'll fall?" Baracs whispered. "I bid six coins for five minutes," he offered.

"Eight for three," Alexandria responded, not missing a beat. Baracs was surprised.

"Well, you seem like you're feeling awfully lucky today, sis," he commented, chuckling.

"I'm not depending on luck, brother," she said. "I know. What do you want, boy?" she called to Black Star.

"I bet you think you're pretty popular huh, witch?" He said the title with disgust. "You two got a lot of nerve if you think you're gonna replace me! I'm the great Black Star! This is my turf you're on, you got that?"

"Replace him? What the hell is he talking about?" Baracs asked.

"I bet you think you're so tough, don't you?" Black Star went on. "HA! As if you could compete with me! I wouldn't be so sure that a little witch like you could defeat such a big man like me!" The bluenette continued rambling as the two kept whispering from down below.

"Hey, sis. It's been two minutes already. Still felling lucky?" Baracs teased. Alexandria smirked. "Oh yes, brother. Very lucky." Black Star had started hopping on the pier, just like his first encounter with Kid. Alexandria's lips moved at lightning speed, but no noise came out and just at the third minute mark, the pier cracked under Black Star's feet and he came hurling towards the ground.

The witch held out her palm. "Pay up, buddy." Baracs grumbled something that sounded like, "Remind me never to play poker with you," and forked over eight Death coins.

Black Star landed heavily, making a loud _boom_! "The ground trembles beneath my very feet," he said. "How about that, still think you're all that? Huh, witch?"

Baracs wasn't very impressed. "Ah come on, sis. This guy's a joke. There's no reason to waste our time on him," he whined.

Alexandria countered, "Even so, it'll be interesting to see what he can do, don't you think?" She smirked again. "If you know what I mean…"

He stared at his female clone before matching her smirk with one of his own. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Fine, I'm up for it."

Alexandria nodded and turned back to the cocky boy. "Well? Where's your weapon, meister?"

"Tsubaki!" Black Star called. "Let's go!"

She nodded. "Right!" In a puff of smoke, Tsubaki got into her kasarigama mode and Black Star caught her expertly.

Alexandria held out her hand. "Ready, brother?" Baracs was engulfed in the golden light again as he transformed into the rod. "Ready, sis."

The witch smirked. "Then here we go."

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Maka and Soul walked out through the main hall on their way home. Suddenly, groups of students where pushing past them to get to the front door and outside. Someone had bumped into Maka, knocking her to the ground.

"Hey!" she cried. "What gives?" The girl was one of Maka's classmates. She turned around and held out a hand.

"Oh, sorry!" She helped Maka up.

"Hey where's everyone going?" Soul asked.

"Yeah, and why are they in such a huge rush to get there?" Maka added.

"Oh haven't you heard?" the girl said. "Apparently Black Star's offered up another challenge!"

"Ugh that idiot," Maka exclaimed. "He just doesn't know when to stop."

"Who's he gonna lose to this time?" Soul asked.

"Word has it that he's challenged the new girl! You know, the one who's a witch?" The two where shocked. "Anyway, I better go. Don't wanna miss the action!" With that, she was off.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

"Oh, a kasrigama, huh? That's cool," the witch commented. She didn't seem very impressed.

"You bet it is!" Black Star said. "And with this you're going down!"

She chuckled. "Well, we'll see about that, boy." She threw her cloak to the side, revealing her clothes for the first time. The witch wore a dark blue dress with light blue tights and white boots. The dress ended about two inches above her knee with fringe laces peeking out. It had long sleeves that fanned out at the wrists and the neckline was designed so the fabric hung off her shoulders a bit. The end of the sleeves and top of the neckline was also lace fringes. She pulled a white glove onto her right hand. It was similar to Maka's, only her's where fingerless.

A small crowd had begun to gather around them, all watching with anticipation for either to make their first move. Maka and Soul pushed their way to the front of the crowd to watch. For the first time in her life, Maka was actually cheering Black Star on. Because of the rule of needing a teacher to supervise a duel on campus, Professor Stein was present, eyeing the witch with extensive interest.

"LET'S GO!" With that, Black Star charged right at her. Alexandria dodged the attack. He threw one of the scythes at her and she deflected it with the mirror on the staff, sending it spinning. The scythe came back to Black Star's hand and he charged her, slicing the air at lightning speed. Alexandria matched the assassin's speed and dodged every attack. She jumped back and opened up the original distance between them.

Alexandria sighed. "I guess it's my move now." She took the rod in both hands and held it out at arm's length in front of her. The witch lined up the mirror so that it reflected the kasarigama. The mirror began to rotate. It was slow at first, but the mirror picked up speed as it gained momentum and continued to spin faster and faster.

"Ready, Baracs?" she asked.

"Yeah, ready." The mirror suddenly stopped. "Analyzing," Baracs said. A bright light flashed, blinding Black Star for a moment. A single line shot out of the center of the eye-shaped mirror and could be seen sweeping across Black Star's form. The light flashed and retracted back into the eye.

"Analyzing: complete." Alexandria swung the rod to the side and threw it in the air.

"Weapon Duplication: Go!" she cried. The rod flew up, transformed, and landed gracefully in her hands…as her very own kasarigama.

Maka, like every else, was shocked. "Weapon Duplication?" she gasped. Stein suddenly appeared next to the girl in his signature roll-y chair.

"There are many moves and strategies in which a person can use their opponent's attacks and moves against them. Weapon Duplication is one such strategic move. But this is only usable on a weapon, granting it the ability to take an inverted form of any weapon he or she wants. It's one that can only be mastered by a witch. However, it's never been done before because there has never before been a witch who possesses both the soul of a witch and a meister," the professor explained. "Until now."

"Amazing," Maka breathed, and turned back to the fight.

"So what if you can do a few fancy spells? Big deal!" Black Star shouted. "You're not gonna outshine me!" The assassin attacked with close combat moves. He sliced the air once more and she blocked with the chain of the weapon. Using his attack as a distraction, Alexandria swept her foot under Black Star's, sending him on his butt. She retreated again in the other direction.

"Quit running away, you coward!" Black Star screamed, getting back on his feet. Alexandria had no reaction as she started swinging one of the scythes by the chain. She swung it above her head like it was a lasso. The witch let go of it and it hurled toward the boy. The weapon wrapped itself around the handle of one of Black Star's scythes. He didn't have time to pull away as Alexandria pulled the kasarigama to her, and caught it in her glove-clad hand.

"Missing this?" she asked mockingly. Now both Baracs and Tsubaki where entangled at one end, giving Alexandria the ultimate advantage since she got hold of her opponent's weapon.

But, obviously, Black Star wasn't ready to forfeit (A/N: like he ever is…) "Tsubaki! Smoke bomb mode, go!" he cried.

Tsubaki nodded. "Right!"

A large cloud of smoke puffed up, engulfing everyone in it. Alexandria became wary and glanced around herself with suspicious eyes. And she waited. She was well aware that Black Star had the advantage now since the smoke bomb was his weapon. She had no idea what he was going to do now so she waited.

Suddenly a loud cry was let out and Alexandria turned around to see Black Star flying down on her with Tsubaki in her Ninja Blade mode. She was quick at trying to block it with the chain again, but not quick enough. The witch cried out in pain as the blade sank deep into her shoulder, blood spurting out and staining her dress.

"Bastard!" Baracs cried. He controlled one of the scythes to wrap around Black Star's ankles and pulled, tripping him again. "Quit it!" Alexandria took the chance and made a quick break for it, rolling away again. She panted and clutched her shoulder.

"Damn," she swore, staring at the wound. Well, that's gonna stain…

"Hey, you ok?" Baracs asked. The twin nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it."

The witch meister stood up straight as she addressed the boy. "It seems I've underestimated you," she said, giving him a soft smile. "You're not as terrible as I had originally thought."

"Huh?" Black Star was confused at the sudden change of heart. Was this girl more messed up than he thought?

Her smile abruptly turned to a scowl. "Baracs, go back to the wand," she demanded.

Baracs seemed worried. "Hey, you sure about this?"

"Do it." Her voice was deep and strict, a tone she only used when being completely serious. Sensing this, the male twin obeyed. "Unfortunately," She gritted at the pain. "You're still not good enough." The witch raised the staff over her head as the air began to vibrate. Then she pointed the object at the other.

"Scarab Swarm."

Suddenly a huge swarm of little blue beetles flew out of the staff and surrounded Black Star. The bugs blinded him for seeing anything but blueness. He swapped, slapped, grabbed and flailed his arms at them in vain attempt to get them away from his face.

When the bugs finally cleared, Black Star didn't have enough time to react when Alexandria flew down on _him _and attacked with Baracs in Ninja Blade mode. Black Star blocked with Tsubaki. As their blades clashed, electricity sparked between them. They broke away, both jumping back ten feet.

"Tsubaki," Black Star said. "Enchanted Sword mode."

"But we haven't mastered that yet, Black Star. You won't be able to handle it."

"I just need to last a minute. We're taking this witch down, no matter what it takes." He had his mind set. Tsubaki had no choice but to agree.

"Yeah, right!" She transformed. Black Star grabbed her and twirled her around for a second before positioning the sword in front of his face. "Let's go; Soul Resonance!" The black marks appeared on Black Star's face as the two began to resonate their souls. The Enchanted Sword's blade crackled with black electricity.

"Shadow Star!" He charged at her. Alexandria swung her gloved hand in front of her to block the attack.

"Beetle Shell!" A blue force field appeared in front of the witch and blocked the sword's attack. Black Star kept pushing against the shield and Alexandria pushed back. Finally the tension broke, the shell shattering into pieces. The force of the blow sent both meisters flying backwards. Alexandria flipped off her hand and landed on her feet, while Black Star slid on his back.

"It's time to end this," she said. Baracs transformed back into his human form. Everyone was a little confused.

"Huh? Oh, giving up already, are you?" Black Star said smugly.

Alexandria smirked. "Who says I need a weapon to fight, huh? After all," she drew both of her hands out in front of her. "I am a witch."

A small tornado of sand began to formulate from her left hand, while little beetles swarmed around her right one. Baracs took a similar position with his hands. The two halves of the eye-shaped mirror appeared on each hand. Alexandria swirled her hands around each other, mixing the sand and the bugs together.

"Beetle, beetles. Crawl on out. Come and face the desert drought," she murmured. "Scarab, scarabs. Meet your foe. Make this Scarab Tornado blow!" With that, she pressed the heels of her hands together and shot forward. A tornado of sand and Scarab Beetles sprang forth and blew strongly. The suction began to draw Black Star in. He gritted his teeth and planted his feet firmly on the ground, trying to create traction between the ground and his shoes to slow down. But it was no use, for the tornado drew him in closer and closer…

When the assassin got close enough, Baracs brought his hands together, connecting the two halves and yelling, "Sun Blast!" A blinding light shot out of the eye, throwing Black Star back. He fell and landed on the stairs below.

The duel was over.

When the beetle and sandstorm cleared, the light from Baracs's hands faded. The two walked over to where Black Star was laying with Tsubaki, who had transformed back into her human form, kneeling beside her meister. "Black Star!" she cried in despair. The witch looked down at him with emotionless eyes.

"With this," Alexandria raised her hand. "I call Match Point." Black Star braced himself for whatever spell she was planning to use while Tsubaki, along with everybody else, held her breath.

"Good game."

Black Star's eyes flew open (when he realized they where closed) and looked up to see Alexandria's outstretched hand towards him. Her smiling face was met with Black Star's utterly confused one.

"Well? What are you waiting for, take it," Baracs said. The assassin glanced at him before cautiously reaching out and taking the gloved hand. Alexandria pulled him up with strength he would've never guessed the witch had.

"Those are some cool moves up your sleeve, kid," she complimented. "Not too shabby."

"Can't forget about the weapon, now can we Sis?" Baracs threw in. "You've got yourself a good weapon, there. Strong too." Tsubaki blushed. Alexandria cocked her head at his still confused look.

"What? You don't think I'd use magic to actually kill you, do you?" she asked. Black Star said nothing, which fueled the witch's suspicions. She gasped, "You did, didn't you! Oh come on! You think the school would let in someone who would kill a complete stranger!" She suddenly got off-topic. "That reminds me, I don't even know your names."

The bluenette perked up at this. "I am Black Star; the world's greatest assassin!"

"And I'm Tsubaki, his weapon," said girl introduced.

Alexandria held out her hand. "Well, Black Star and Tsubaki, you two make a strong and powerful pair. I hope we can do this again, only on more pleasant circumstances." Baracs held out his also and smiled.

Black Star stared at the hand for a moment. Then he grinned and took it, saying, "Yeah, good job." The meisters and weapons shook on it, signifying a truce until they meet in "battle" again.

The crowd ran to where the four where standing, cheering and giving praise to Alexandria and Baracs for their awesome skills. The only ones who stood back where Professor Stein, and Soul and Maka.

_It's amazing, _Stein thought. _A person with the abilities of both a witch and a meister._ _What I wouldn't give to poke around the insides of that little one. _

"Man," Soul said, staring at the pair. "They are one cool pair, don't you think Maka?" He looked over at the girl. "Huh?"

Maka's hair fell over her eyes as she stared at the ground. Her hands where clenched tightly into small fists and where shaking.

"Hey, Maka. You okay?" Soul moved to put his hand on her shoulder. Before he could, she jerked away and quickly walked away from the scene. Soul stared after her with worry in his eyes.

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><p>AN: oooooh, seems like Maka really doesn't like a certain someone~! i apologize for Black Star's OOCness towards the end. oh, and i'm not sure when Kid will pop up, but it should be soon. Til next time; PEACE! X3


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: heheh...^_^' Soooooooo sorry for the wait! Stress, pressure and writer's block are not the best combo...

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter! I know I enjoyed writing it!

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Warning: Language, a violent scythe meister, a bitchy witch and a hyperactive assassin

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><p>Chapter 3: The Weapon and Miester Switch-Up<p>

"Ali, hurry up!"

"Wait up for me~!"

Baracs dragged Alexandria by the hand into the classroom. Alexandria shut the door behind her panting and her brother was bend over with his hands on his knees, also panting.

"Safe!" she breathed. Both had slept in and made it to the school just in time. The twins caught their breath and walked over to where their seats where—right next to Maka and Soul's. The scythe meister was already seated when to two came over, a book lightly sitting in her hands with her partner to her right, his feet propped up and his eyes closed, much similar to the position Baracs was in the other day. Unfortunately, for both pairs, Maka and Alexandria sat next to each other.

"Good morning, Soul!" Alexandria greeted cheerfully as she took her seat. "Maka."

"Alexandria." Maka matched her tone. "Morning, Baracs." A tense silence settled over the four as both boys responded to their greetings and said hi to the other.

_ Well, _Soul and Baracs unknowingly thought at the same time. _At least they're acknowledging each other, that's a start. _

They sat like that for a while, Baracs staring at nothing in particular, Soul "sleeping," Maka reading, and Alexandria just sitting there, arms folded and eyes closed. Then the little witch smirked. She just got an idea that, ok she admitted probably wasn't the wisest thing to do at the time considering her and Maka's relationship right now, but she was just _so _curious as to how long Maka could go before she cracked…

Through some sort of awesome-twin-telepathy, Baracs suddenly got the feeling that something was going to happen. He took a peak at his little sissy and frowned when he saw the smirk on her face. This was not good. If she was smirking and it wasn't at_ him_, then that meant she was planning something. And it was obvious that it wouldn't end well.

"So, Maka," Alexandria started, softening the smirk to a small grin.

"Hm?" Maka glanced from her book at the girl.

"I've…_heard _that your mother was also a Scythe Meister, am I right?" Maka fully looked up at the witch in surprise. Soul heard this and poked an eye open. Baracs narrowed his eyes at his sister, for he was trying to figure out where all this was going.

"Yeeees…," Maka said slowly. "Why do you ask, and how do you know that?" she asked suspiciously. She really didn't trust this girl…

Alexandria flicked a wrist at her second question. "Oh, I have my ways," she said cryptically. "Anywho…I was just wondering…what do you think of her?"

Maka blinked. "Eh?"

"What do you think of her?" she repeated.

"Why do you care?"

"Oh believe me I really don't," Alexandria said bluntly. Maka sweatdropped. "It's just," she continued. "I've heard that people think she was probably one of the best miesters to create a Death Scythe." She picked at imaginary dirt under her nails. "Yeah. So?" Maka couldn't see where this was going, but Baracs had an idea…

"But if you ask me," the witch drew her hand forward, back of the hand facing her as she inspected her nails. "Your mother wasn't a _real_ meister." Maka felt an arrow pierce her heart. Soul stared at them. Baracs was shocked. Out of all the things his sister had said, and believe me, she had said some pretty shocking things, he'd_ never_ expect for that to fly out of her mouth. "The only reason she was able to make her weapon, your father, a Death Scythe was because of one thing."

Maka's hands where clenched into fists again. "My mother was able to make a Death Scythe because she had the skill, patience and didn't have the cocky attitude you do," she hissed out. Her hands started shaking as she tried to control herself.

"Oh, darling I do beg to differ." Alexandria smirked. "It didn't have anything to do with…_skill _as you say. But," she leaned in close to Maka's ear and whispered, "simple, sheer, dumb luck." She pulled back, mumbling, "Of course it also helped that the witch she battled screwed up…idiot…" Baracs felt his heart tighten when he heard that.

"You're wrong."

"Oh?"

"You're wrong!" Maka cried. "You have no right to say that. You don't even know my mother!" She felt the anger rise in her chest as tears began to prick her eyes. She blinked them away. "She was more skilled and talented than you will ever be!"

Alexandria smirked. She didn't seemed fazed at all, and that scared Soul. "Oh but don't you know? To be skilled, first you have to have actual _talent_."

That was the breaking point of the miester. But before she could tackle the cocky witch to the ground and start (literally) beating some sense into her, the classroom doors burst open and in rolled Professor Stein. The wheel on his desk chair tripped on some invisible obstacle, he fell back, and spun around across the floor until he came to a stop in the front of the class.

"Alright, let's get started class. Today—huh?" Stein looked up to see Alexandria pinned against the desktop with Maka on top of her with death in her eyes.

"You stupid little witch!" Maka cried. "Just shut up! Shut up!" The meister punched the witch in the nose, blood spurting all over the place. Tsubaki shrieked. Alexandria rolled Maka over so this time she was on top. She clawed at Maka's face, leaving two little cuts on her cheek. Maka rolled them over again.

"Hey, Maka c'mon! Get off!" Soul shouted. He hugged her from behind and pulled to get her off. Baracs was trying to pry Maka off so he could get to his sister.

The four of them kept going and didn't even realize Stein slowly walking up the stairs. He poked Soul and Baracs on the shoulders and signaled for them to move out of the way. They did. The two girls kept at it, until they heard a soft

_Click click click click…chunk! _

They looked up to see Stein staring down at them, a hand on his screw and a cigarette sitting lazily between his lips.

"Um," Alexandria started. "Can I help you?"

~5 minutes later~

"Alrighty then," Stein sighed, back at the front of the class. "Now that we've got that little squabble settled, why don't we begin today's lesson, hm?" He turned around. "Alexandria, Maka, I think you two will be fine up there, don't you? Just make sure you listen closely, got it?"

"Yes, Professor Stein," the two chanted monotonously. Both where hanging at the front of the class on the chalkboard, much in the same manner Black Star had been during the Super Written Exam.

Stein nodded and turned back to the class and began explaining the day's agenda. Alexandria glanced over at Maka. Maka did the same.

"This is all your fault," Maka hissed.

Alexandria scoffed. "You're the one who started the cat-fight. Who knew you could be so violent?"

"Just what does _that _mean?"

"Hey, I'm just saying. Most people would take one look at you and just assume you're _that_ kind of girl."

"What are you babbling on about?" Maka demanded. She was _what _kind of girl?

Alexandria sighed. "Ya know, the little goody-two-shoes kind of girl."

Maka was about to say something when Stein said, "You got that? Maka, Alexandria?"

"Huh?" they said, confused. After all, they weren't listening. Stein sighed again, as he re-explained the assignment. After he made sure they understood, he told them to return to their seats.

"Well, we can't very well do that if we're _still stuck up here_!" Maka cried. The scientist slowly turned back to them. The light glinted off his glasses in a mischievous manner and the cigarette bent in his mouth as he, what appeared to be, gritted his teeth. His patience was wearing thin.

"I'm sure you'll find a way. Just be sure not to make another mess." That was it. No hint, no help, no nothing. Maka thought they where just going to be stuck up there the entire class period. But Alexandria didn't. Being the witch she was, she simply cast a simple levitation spell to unhinge her from the hook that held her and floated down to the floor.

"Hey!" Maka cried, just as Alexandria was about to walk off. "What about me?"

She turned her head so that Maka could only see half her face. "What _about _you?"

"Alexandria…" Baracs warned. He really didn't feel like a repeat of what had just happened. His sister sighed.

"Fiiiiiii~ne." With a flick of the wrist, Maka was sent hurling towards the floor. But before she could land brutally on her butt, Alexandria made a small throw pillow appear to soften the fall.

When they returned to their seats however, both Soul and Baracs agreed that it was a good idea for both of them to sit in between the girls to avoid any…unexpected outbursts. So the seating arrangement became this: Alexandria, Baracs, Soul and then Maka.

Stein clapped loudly to get the class's attention back to him. "As I was saying," he began. "Lord Death has asked me to assign a particularly special class project."

"'Class project'?" Soul said. "We've never had a class project before. Wonder what that's all about."

"It's called….The Switch-Up!" A giant question mark appeared over the entire class. He sweatdropped.

"The Switch-Up, is merely a simple test. You will be paired with all new partners. However!" he called as people began to point to each other across the room to ensure they get paired with their best friends. "Meisters, you will be picking your new weapons out of this jar." He gestured to a weird looking jar sitting on the desk behind him. "You will have about one month to spend with your new partner, to get to know them, to learn to resonate with them. At the end of that month, you will be put through a series of tests with your partner and that includes a mock duel with them." This got everyone excited and talking. "It will be like one of those championship thingies. There will be two opponents, and the winner of that duel moves up, and the winner of that duel moves up and so on. "

"What do you get if you win!" Black Star shouted.

"The top two winners will duel full out; no rules. The winner becomes the champion and will have the chance to fight with a real Death Scythe." Everyone started whispering about how cool it would be and stuff.

"So!" Stein shouted, clapping his hands again. "Meisters, when I call your name, come up here and draw the name of your new weapon!" He grabbed the jar and spun around in his chair a few times. "Black Star!"

Black Star pumped his fist in the air. "Alright! Of course I would be first. I'm Number One!" He sauntered down to the front of the class and stuck his gloved hand into the jar. After rummaging around for a while, he finally pulled out a small scrape piece of paper. He was just about to announce the "lucky winners," Stein held up a finger.

"Don't tell us. We'll know soon enough. Next!" And one by one every meister in the room came up and picked their new weapons. When it was empty, Stein tossed the jar behind him and said, "Okay, everyone! Go stand by your new partner!"

"Seriously?" Maka resisted the urge to scream and Alexandria's eye twitched as Maka stood next to Baracs and Alexandria pouted by Soul.

"Oh," Stein added. "Did I mention you have to live with them too?"

"WHAT!"

~a few days later…~

Alexandria trudged behind Baracs as they walked up to Maka and Soul's apartment. Baracs glanced worriedly at her. She had the same look on her face that she had had for the past 3 days. Ever since they picked new partners.

/flashback~/

"_But I don't wanna go!" Alexandria screamed like a 5-year-old. Baracs ran a hand through his hair and sighed. _

"_Well, you know what, you don't have a choice!" he yelled. Sometimes, his sister just really didn't get it._

_The door to their shared bedroom opened slightly. A boy with cropped black hair timidly poked his head in._

"_Um," he said. "Baracs? Ali? Is everything alright?" Alexandria looked past her brother and her eyes lit up at the sight of the boy._

"_Kid!" she cried, running to him and throwing her arms around her childhood friend. "He wants us to leave!" She pointed accusingly at her brother. Kid looked up at him with a confused look._

"_Leave? But why?" It seemed as if he gripped the girl in his arms a little tighter. Baracs sighed again._

"_While you where off on your mission, Professor Stein assigned us a project," he explained, sitting down on the edge of their twin-sized bed. "We where to switch partners and learn to resonate with them and blah, blah, blah. Ali got Soul and I got Maka." Alexandria seemed to bristle at her name. "And now we have to go live with them for a month." _

_The witch gripped onto the little Shinigami tighter. "But I don't wanna go!" she proclaimed loudly. Again._

"_But the assignment said—" Alexandria ripped herself from Kid and advanced on her twin._

"_Well, you know what? I don't give a damn about to assignment! And neither should you!" she screamed. "And another thing—" She stopped when she felt a hand being placed on her shoulder. _

"_Alexandria…" She heard her name being whispered in her ear and all of her anger suddenly vanished. It was like magic. She turned around and saw Kid looking at her with…_that _look. Alexandria absolutely _hated_ it when people looked at her like that. "Please," he pulled her into a tight embrace. "Don't be like this. She wouldn't like it." Her face immediately softened at the mention of _her.

"_Ok." She said it so quietly it was also inaudible. But Kid heard it. He pulled away and smiled at her._

"_And besides," he added. "Frowning like that will only give you wrinkles. And we wouldn't want to mess up that perfect, symmetrical little face of yours, now would we?"_

_The witch rolled her eyes at her friend's obsession. _

"_I'll, uh…I guess I'll go tell Liz and Patty then," she said, rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment. After an awkward smile to both boys, she slipped out of the room. _

_With a heavy sigh, Baracs flopped back on the bed. All of a sudden he was so exhausted. _

"_Man, how do you do it?" he asked, amazed. Kid shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets._

"_I don't know, man. I guess…I don't know."_

_The silvery-bluenette sat up. "Well, whatever you do, keep it up. Because it works." He grinned. "God, I swear she gets more difficult every day!" The poor weapon sighed for the third time in less than 20 minutes. "Well, I guess we'd better start packing. If we start now, we should be out of your way by this evening."_

"_Oh, take as much time as you need," Kid insisted, letting his manners take over. "Please don't hurry on our account." _

_Baracs shook his head. "Nah it's fine. Besides, I think a certain little someone thinks that the sooner we get there, the sooner it'll be over." Chuckling, he reached underneath the bed and pulled out a dark blue duffel bag._

_Kid placed a hand on his to try to stop him. "C'mon, at least stay with us for dinner. It's Patty's turn to cook!" He immediately regretted saying that as Baracs rose an eyebrow at him. They both knew that Patty was extremely…creative in the kitchen, and neither really wanted to risk food poisoning. _

_Baracs placed his hand on Kid's shoulder. "Look, Kid," he started. "And trust me when I say this, but we don't want to leave as much you don't want us to leave, but…" he looked towards the door. "I think it'll really help her to, you know, learn how to…_deal _with people." _

_Kid sighed and pulled away. "If you say so." He started to walk out. Upon reaching the door, he turned around and said, "But don't think you'll be able to handle her on your own. You're gonna need help, I promise you." And he swept out of the room. _

/end flashback~/

Baracs knew that Kid and Alexandria had one of those "special" relationships. And it wasn't all that easy to part them either. He knew they had "feelings" for each other, but they just didn't know it themselves. And even if they did, both of them would surely be too proud to admit it. But that was another story.

Lost in his thoughts, Baracs almost walked right past their destination. They stood in front of the door that their new home hid behind. He took in a deep breath. When it seemed like he would knock on the door, the boy whipped around and abruptly slapped his sister across the cheek.

Alexandria turned back to him, for her head had snapped to the right from the force of the hit, with confusion clearly evident on her face.

"What the hell was that for?" she demanded. Her cheek started to turn red.

"You need to snap out of it already!" he stated loudly. Alexandria was a little taken aback. Her brother rarely raised his voice, and when he did he was completely serious.

She sighed and had a solemn look on her face. "I'm sorry, brother. I just…" she trailed off, glancing at the door reluctantly.

He put his hand on her shoulder like he did with Kid. "Look, I know it's hard. It's hard for me too! But you need to snap out of this…wonk."

She snickered. "Wonk?" He shrugged. The witch let out a deep breath and regained her composure. "But you're right. I just need to relax, let go~." She shook her head a little and seemed to release all of her tension through her breath. Flipping her hair over her shoulder, she winked and flashed him her best smirk.

"Well? How do I look?"

Baracs smiled and ruffled her hair. "Like your impossible little self."

She laughed. "And proud of it, babe!"

The twins turned back to the door. Baracs raised his hand and knocked loudly and defiantly. They heard some movement behind the door and it slowly swung inside, opening the pair to their new home. For a month anyway.

* * *

><p>AN: And that's where I decide to stop! I meant to keep going, but it was getting kinda long. I now realize that the flashback was kinda long, but i didn't really want to change it. KidXOC? Maybe. Maka vs. OC? Definitely! Again, I apologize for the long wait and any OOCness. I hope y'all had great hols and have an awesome New Year! I also wanna thank all those who reveiwed (*cough cough* April Marciano and fallendeathangel159 *cough cough*) and all of y'all who added this story or me to their alert list! Thank you guys so much, it makes me so happy to know people are actually bothering to read this!

Ok, I'm rambling now...til next time: PEACE! X3

Next Chapter: The Super-Written Exam: Part 2! Read it, or I'll take your soul!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I'M BAAAAAAAACK~! haha, sorry again for the wait, demands of my nonexsistant life have really bad timing...(it was a joke...*sigh* whatever) aaaaaaanyways, here's the next installment of Witch Meister! This chapter is kinda weird, i guess you could call it flashback-y? it's certainly didn't turn out the way i had orginally planned, but oh well!

Warnings: Language(?), confusion and a crappy ending!

* * *

><p>Chapter 4: The Super-Written Exam: Part 2<p>

Professor Stein sat in front of the class in his chair as he announced, "As you all know, there isn't much time left. In a few short days, you will be taking the general test for weapons and meisters; The Super Written Exam. I hope you all have been studying." His speech was pretty much the same as last year's.

_Of course _Maka thought. _I've been cramming for this for a month now! _

"Fair warning, I wrote the test questions again, so if you did well last year, you shouldn't have a problem this time around either. If not, you might want to try studying a little." He gave a notable eye to Black Star and Soul. "Either way, good luck!" With that, he rolled out of the classroom.

Alexandria had her chin in her hand, her head tilted to the side slightly and one eye closed. "Ugh, a test," she groaned. "All that studying. It gets so boring!"

"Yeah," Baracs agreed. "But I guess it can't be helped. We'll just have to grin and bear it."

She sighed. "Yeah whatever."

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Stein was right. Those few days where short. Everything went pretty much the way it had before, except this time Maka and Tsubaki kept a close eye on their idiot partners. And Liz and Patty took fewer breaks. And Blair was confined to another room so she wouldn't, ahem, _distract _Soul. The Baracs twins also studied hard. The next few days where pretty quiet around Maka and Soul's apartment, which was quite a nice surprise. Alexandria was mostly holed up in her shared room with her brother, either at the desk or on the bed. She could most likely be found with books and papers surrounding her, same with her twin. One would take position at the desk; the other sprawled out on the bed or floor.

Maka was also hard at work, just like before. When she wasn't studying by herself, she would be helping Soul with things he didn't understand or having a study session with Tsubaki over the phone. But when she was alone, every now and then, her mind would wander from the books and papers on her desk to about a week ago; when the twins first moved in…

/flashback~/

_Maka grunted out in frustration as she kicked a random box, sending its contents spiraling across the room._

_ "Hey, I thought we were supposed to be cleaning," Soul pointed out. Maka shot him a nasty glare._

_ "Serves them right," she mumbled. She got on her knees and began picking up the stuff and putting it back in the box. "They should come to a dirty house. Make _them_ clean!" Soul sighed. There would be no calming her, would there?_

_ "Maka?"_

_ "What?" There was just a _little _hostility in her voice._

_ "You're doing it again~" Soul said in a tone that said he was pretty tired of her behavior. _

_ "So what!" Maka shot up and glared down at her weapon. "I don't give a crap! That little brat deserves it! Did you hear what she said about my mother? She has absolutely no right to talk about her like that!"_

_ Soul got her to stop before she was really on a roll. He walked over to her and put both of his hands on her shoulders. She tried to pull away, but he held a firm grip on her. _

_ "Look," he began. "I understand that her comments and opinions about your mother where totally uncalled for on her part. But you gotta pull yourself together, Maka!" He shook her by the shoulders a bit when he said this. "You can't let her get to you like this every time she opens her mouth or makes some snide comment. Because if you do," he dropped his arms and picked the box up. "Then she's already won." And Soul left the room. _

_ Maka just stared after him. Then she let out a groan of defeat and slumped onto the couch. As much as she hated to admit it, Soul was right for once. She couldn't let Alexandria get to her so easily. She had to show her that she wasn't that weak. At that moment, Maka made a resolution. She was going to keep her cool when Alexandria came around. She wasn't going to let her emotions show so easily. Like her promise with Soul, she was going to become stronger, only in a different way. _

_ After she made her promise to herself, Maka suddenly felt so tired. She threw herself down on the couch and buried her face in one of the pillows. Breathing in the sweet scent of Camellia Blossom _(wink, wink; 1)_, Maka soon found herself falling asleep. _

_ When Soul came back into the room, he found Maka sound asleep. He couldn't help but smile. Of course she lectures him about cleaning the house, and then ends up sleeping the afternoon away. He sighed. 'I guess I'll have to do the cleaning this time around.'_

Maka shook her head, returning to the present. No, she couldn't think about that. She had to study! The exam was in less than 2 days! And her dad was still outside her window doing some weird ceremonial-looking ritual thing with candles and fire. Maka sighed. She shut her window tightly and returned to her studying.

"Oooooh~!" Alexandria rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. "I need a break, my brain is tired."

Baracs turned and looked at her from the desk. "But we've only been studying for an hour and forty-five minutes."

"Only?" she scoffed. "I don't know about you, but I can't hold my concentration on school work for more than an hour. I mean, I can't barely stay awake in class!"

"Is that why you've been cramming everything in for the past 2 days?"

She gave him a thumbs up, an in, "You bet!" He sighed and shook his head. _Typical. _"Alright, you win," he said, turning away from the desk and facing her. "Wanna take a break?"

"Oh, yes please!"

Soul leaned back in his chair and yawned. He needed a break. He hadn't studied this hard in his life. Of course it was Maka who got him like this. With all the nagging about "honesty" and "only cheating yourself" and all that crap. He was sick of it all, so he finally just went with it. But now that he had been at it for a while, he thought it only fair that he take a small break. _Yeah, _he thought _after all, it's not healthy to not stop every once in a while to clear your head. _And with that conclusion, Soul's mind started to drift away to the same place Maka's had gone; one week ago…

_After the whitenette finished cleaning their little apartment, Maka was still asleep. He looked at the clock. It was almost 5:45. Baracs and Alexandria were supposed to be coming around 6. He walked over to Maka and sat down beside her. After staring at her for a bit, Soul got up and walked to where her head was. He then started to poke her forehead to try to wake her up._

_ Maka felt a sharp pain pierce her forehead. She moaned and swatted at it. The thing pierced again and she swatted at it again and rolled over to her side. This time she was shaken and she groaned out a, "Nooooo…."_

_ "Maka~" a soothing voice said. "Wake up~"_

_ She moaned some more and whined, "Five more minutes…"_

_ "Maka, come on!" the voice said, a little harsher. _

_ "Nooo!" was the response._

_ "Maka!" _

_ Her eyes flew up and pushed Soul away, making him hit the coffee table. "What?" she whined._

_ Soul rubbed his back. "C'mon, wake up. They're gonna be here soon." He got up and walked away to do something. Maka sat up, rubbing her eyes and blinking at the light. When she was fully awake, she straightened out the couch again and went to prepare dinner. A few minutes later, there came a knock on the door. Since Maka was at the stove stir-frying some vegetables, Soul went to get it. _

_ He opened the door and before he could say, "Hey, come on in," or something, Alexandria pushed her way past him and yelled, "Honey, I'm home~!" Soul rolled his eyes. _Typical_ he thought. Maka came out of the kitchen after she groaned and changed the stove temperature to low. _

_ "Hey, guys," Baracs said, smiling. "Thanks again for having us." Maka liked Baracs. At least he had some manners. Maka smiled back at him. "It's no problem at all!" What a total lie…_

_ Alexandria had already started poking around the place. "Wow, you guys gotta cute place here." She poked at a rather expensive looking vase with an intricate design on it. _

_ "Hey, don't touch that!" Soul cried, running after her. She saw him coming and giggled, grabbing the vase. "You'll have to catch me first!" And she darted off deeper into the apartment. Soul chased after her, leaving the other two behind. Baracs sweatdropped. _

Soul didn't really remember much after that. He chased Alexandria around the apartment, running from room to room, but she was just too fast. He thought he had cornered her in the bathroom, because he locked the door behind him, but she discovered the back door connecting the bathroom to another room and darted out that way. He sighed. Looks like things where going to get a whole lot more interesting around here.

Baracs strode into the kitchen and stuck his head in the refrigerator. He wanted a snack and he was getting something for Alexandria too, even though she didn't want anything. But he was making her eat anyway, because she was seriously too thin. Rummaging around, he found some leftovers from dinner a few nights ago. A plate of chicken, some noodles, and a container of vegetables. He stared at the latter, remembering something he probably wouldn't forget…

_"I guess this would be a good time to apologize for her," he sighed. Picking up both of their bags, looked at Maka. "Where can I put these?"_

_ She pointed towards the couch. "Just toss them over there. And then come and help me with dinner." She walked back to her vegetables. The meister opened the lid of the pot (she had covered it) and steam rolled out up to the ceiling. She took a wooden spoon and stirred them around a little bit. Then she took a fork and pierced one of the carrots and brought it to her mouth, tasting it. She closed her eyes in bliss. Perfect. They where hot, and burned just the way she like them. Maka turned the stove off just as Baracs walked in, following the delicious smell of the pork chops in the oven. _

_ "Whoa," he said, staring at everything. "You do this every night?" _

_ Maka shrugged. "Only when I feel like it." She took the fork and pierced another vegetable, this time a piece of cauliflower. "Here," she said, offering it to the boy. "Try it, tell me what you think." Baracs blinked, and then slowly took the food in his mouth. He chewed. "Whoa," he said for the second time. "That is really good."_

_ Maka smiled. "You really think so?"_

_ He nodded. "Totally!" Maka's grin grew bigger. Baracs stared at her in awe. _This is probably_, he thought_. The first time I've seen Maka actually smile for real.

_ Alexandria stood right outside the door, staring at the two of them suspiciously. "Hey~," she said, barging in. "What's going on in here?" She had the little vase tucked under her arm, the other arm on her hip. _

_ "What's going on with you?" her brother responded. "I thought Soul would've caught you by now." _

_ "Oh please, I lost him by the bathroom." She sounded bored. "It's not even that fun anymore." Soul ran into the room, panting. _

_ "Hey, c'mon, Alexandria! Give it back!" The witch sighed and rolled her eyes. "Just take it, I don't care anymore." She threw the vase behind her and Soul scrambled to catch it. "Anyway," she continued. "Let's eat!" _

Alexandria closed the manga she was reading and blew some of her bangs out of her face. She was sprawled out on her stomach with her iPod blaring and her feet in the air. The witch pulled the little buds out of her ears and rolled onto her back. She stared up at the ceiling.

"No that's not it," she said in a voice that was much calmer than normal. "I'm simply trying to provoke her. The boy means absolutely nothing to me." She paused. "Fine, I'll admit he's interesting, but I can tell he likes her and vice versa. It's one of _those _relationships." Another pause. "This has nothing to do with him!" She yelled. "I'm doing all of this for you…" She blinked. "Huh?" The girl sat up and turned to the door. It was slightly cracked open. She turned back, but it looked like she was looking at the wall. "What are you talking about? Nobody's there."

Soul all but slammed the bathroom door behind him and leaned against it. He was breathing heavily, his eyes wide. What was that he just saw? He couldn't think. His mind was clouded with a strange feeling he couldn't describe. What was Alexandria talking about? It didn't make any sense. _Just forget it, _he thought. Soul sighed and pulled his shirt over his head. The weapon turned the water on in the shower and started unbuttoning his pants. After discarding his clothes, Soul hopped into the shower and closed his eyes as he let the hot water wash over his face.

He told himself to forget it, but he just couldn't. It was…kind of creepy. He was walking past Alexandria and Baracs's bedroom, when he heard the witch talking. But when he looked in, she was alone. _Or was she? _Soul shook his head. He had been watching too many fantasy movies and anime. But she did seem a little out of character, though. As he reached for the shampoo bottle, Soul remembered another Alexandria moment…

_Alexandria sighed as she stretched. "Man, that wasn't bad." Baracs rubbed his stomach. "Yeah, I haven't had a dinner like that in…" he stopped short._

_ "Forever?"_

_ He looked at his twin. "Yeah. Forever…" He shook his head and smiled. "So, where do we crash?"_

_ "Well," Soul started. "The couch folds out into a bed." He leaned back and folded his hands behind his head. _

_ The witch yawned. "I kinda feel like sharing a room." _

_ "The guest room in down the hall, third door to your left and by the bathroom," Maka said, deadpan. She stood up and started gathering up the plates and stuff. "But it's got a twin-bed, so you'll have to share it."  
>"Actually," she countered, getting a mischievous glint in her eyes. "I was hoping to share a room with Soul." Alexandria smirked and winked at him. Maka blinked and Baracs groaned internally. <em>Not again. Please not again_. _

_ "Absolutely not." Maka immediately snapped. _

_ "Excuse me," she said. "But isn't that decision up to Soul?" Somehow, she'd made it over the scythe's chair and brought her face reeeeeaaaaaally close to his. Their noses where almost touching. "Huh? Soul~?" Her middle and index fingers walked their way up his arm and to his neck very flirtatiously. _

Soul felt his face grow hot as he remembered. What was wrong with him? You'd think he'd had enough experience of these kinds of situations with Blair to know how to get out of it, but he had been kind of panicking at the moment. He had never had _face _contact before, with the cat-lady it had always been with her _body_. But then, as he felt her breath on his face, looked into her piercing green eyes that where half-lidded, poor Soul had no idea what to do.

He felt weird. This was the first time he'd taken a shower while actually think about _someone._ It was so awkward as the look on her face popped in his mind. He shook his head violently, spraying water and shampoo on the tile walls. Come on! He wasn't suppose to get like this! He was cool!

When Soul was finished, he stepped out of the bathroom, steam rolling out behind him. His hair was still damp and he had a towel wrapped around his waist, his clothes bundled up in his arms. He walked to his room as he remembered what happened after that…

_Maka suddenly appeared over the witch and stared down at Soul. She remembered her promise to herself about keeping her cool around the witch, but she was just making it too damn hard! The poor weapon looked back and forth between the two girls, panicking. He was tongue-tied, he had no idea what to say. If he said no, then Maka would be happy, but Alexandria would be angry, which could effect their Soul Wavelengths. But if he said yes, he would have to endure Maka's Wrath (which included a myriad of Maka Chops, mind you) and risk having Alexandria…_do _something to him. _

_ "Uh…I, um…" Maka glared at him and Alexandria still had that stupid little smirk on her face, both awaiting his answer. _

_Suddenly Baracs stood up. "Hey, come on you two. Give the poor dude a break." The two girls turned to him as Soul let out a sigh of relief. _Dear, Baracs; thanks a bunch dude! _he thought. Alexandria pulled back and crossed her arms. Maka sighed. _

_ "She started it," she mumbled. _

_ Alexandria rolled her eyes. "Oh, here we go again. Playing the Blame Game!"_

_ "Alexandria…" Baracs warned._

_ "Hey, I'm just saying!"_

_ "Alexandria, that's _enough._" She looked at her twin. Her face then became harder and she marched out of the room.  
>"Hey where are you going?" Maka called. <em>

_ "Down the hall, third door on the left and by the bathroom!" The witch recited mockingly without looking back. The shout was soon followed by the guest room door slamming shut. _

_ Baracs slumped back down in his chair. "I'm sorry."_

_ Maka patted him on the back. "Don't be, it's not your fault. Besides, _she's _the problem here, not you."_

_ He looked up at her. "Even so, behavior like her's is unacceptable. Especially since you guys are housing us for the next month. And by the way things look now, I can guarantee you she's gonna be a handful going forward. So, I'm sorry, for the stuff she's done in the past and stuff she's bound to do in the future."_

_ Maka was shocked. She had never met someone so…so…sincere. She smiled and said, "Don't worry about it!" and went back to cleaning up the table. _

Soul was grateful for the save and had no doubt about Baracs's warning. The quiet days of the little apartment were long gone and things were gonna get really insane around here.

* * *

><p>The feeling of anxiety and nerves filled the classroom as the students that where sitting inside took the Super Written Exam. It was physically silent, but everyone's minds were roaring with thoughts. Everyone was focused, concentrated. Well, mostly everyone. This time, Patti made her exam a unicorn and Kid's name was already printed on the test. Black Star was asleep within the first ten minutes and Soul was trying to steal glances off of other people's papers. Maka was fully focused, as was Tsubaki, Baracs and Alexandria. Everyone was relieved when the hour was up.<p>

"So, how'd you do?" Baracs asked Soul and Black Star as they walked down the hall.

"I fell asleep," Black Star groaned.

"And I didn't finish," Soul added.

"Maka, how do you think you did?" Tsubaki asked encouragingly. Maka gave a thumbs up.

"I think I did great, but there's no telling until the scores come out." Tsubaki nodded, agreeing.

~one week later~

Maka's eye twitched as she stared up at the Super Written Exam scores. _This is impossible, _she thought. _There's no way…! _The sign read:

Baracs—100

Alexandria—100

Maka—99

Ox—98

_ They just got here two weeks ago. How could they know stuff we learned a month ago? _

Alexandria yawned as her and Baracs walked past Maka.

"Oh hey look!" she pointed to the sign. "They posted the test scores! C'mon!" She dragged her brother over to the wall and looked up. "Top Score, Baracs! Just as expected."

Baracs shrugged. "It's no big deal. You got the same score as me, so it's all good." Alexandria then noticed Maka standing there, with her mouth wide open. She smirked.

"Better luck next time, _Maka_," the name rolled off her tongue so mockingly, Maka felt her anger burn inside her once again. But before she could do anything, Alexandria was skipping past her, down the hall. Baracs came up to her and patted her on the back.

"Hey, it's alright," he said. "You did your best, didn't you?" She looked up at him and nodded. "Then that's all anyone can ask for." And he left.

~Meanwhile, at Chupa Cabra's…~

"Makaaaaaaaaa~!" Death Scythe cried out in despair as he was slumped down in one of the plush couches of his favorite love bar. "I'm a horrible father! I couldn't even make sure she got the highest score on her exam! I even spend the last week sending positive energy to her like last year! But it didn't work…"

Blair tried to comfort the distressed father. "Well, you can't guarantee everything, right? The important thing is that you tried because you love her and that's all that matters at this point."

"But the fact that I tried means nothing if I couldn't make it happen! I can't prove my love to Maka if I can't get the right results!"

"But she got the highest score last year, didn't she?" Blair asked. "If that's true, then what are you so worried about? Doesn't that mean she's destined to make a Death Scythe regardless?"

The redhead looked up at the magical cat-woman with pleading eyes. "Yeah, I guess but…it would be GUARANTEED if she aced it TWICE!" He stood up with his fist pumped and fire burning around him in the background. Blair sighed. _There's no convincing him, is there? _

He plopped back down. "It's all that little witch's fault. Ever since she's showed up, Maka has been acting a bit weird…Hm…What could she be after? Hm…" His chin was in his hand, his mind deep in thought. Blair had left a little while ago…

* * *

><p>AN: Ok, i think i'm gonna stop there cuz i don't really know what else to put. I hope everyone liked it! I apologize for lack of other characters, but I PROMISE they will come in soon. Review? Pleeeeeaaaase? I love you all!

Next Chapter- Training the Soul: Will Resonance Prevail, or Will it End on A Discordant Note?


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: DON'T WORRY! I'M STILL HERE! I'N NOT DEAD! heheh, sorry about the long wait and everything, but I just finished up the School Musical and of course the teachers think we have no lifes and swarm us with tests and quizzes and papers and projects. Plus, I was sick for a few days. Playing your championship soccer game in the pouring rain? Fun as hell. The after-effects? Not so much. Now, I know what you're all thinking, _excuses, excuses, excuses GET ON WITH IT! _however, I suggest you cut the attitude cuz i worked really hard on this chapter just to make it up to you guys. It's 12 1/2 frakking pages! I could've posted it late last night since I was working on it, but i decided to wait till today cuz i wanted to make sure it was extra perfect. (am i making you feel guilty?) So in short, this chapter is where the peeps try to create their soul resonance and blah, blah, blah. I also hope that it'll raise more questions...but if you find it boring and not moving to the storyline at all, then all i have to say is sorry. Oh, and uh, GET USED TO IT! I'm one of those people who likes to put her readers in suspense and wouldn't reveal the secret until the very end. (I'm also a total plot-twister btw) So, with that in mind, I COMMAND YOU TO ENJOY! (or not, whatever floats your boat)

Disclaimer: meh, you know the drill...

Warnings: Are there any? I don't really know...I guess I'll that up to you guys X3

* * *

><p>Chapter 5: Training the Soul: Will Resonance Prevail, or Will it End on a Discordant Note? (wow, that's a long title O.o)<p>

"Joma, joma. Dabarasa. Joma, joma. Dabarasa." The chant rang through the hall as a group of witches bowed their heads to the Grand Witch in the center of their circle.

"I declare this Witch's Mass now open," she said. "Let us begin."

Before they could however, the large double doors at the front of the hall burst open. The moonlight illuminated two cloaked figures in the doorway. The slightly shorter one smirked.

"Well, well, well," one witch began as the two walked in. "If it isn't the one and only Witch Traitor."

The witch pulled down her hood, revealing her face. "I guess that's what I'm known as now, isn't it?" she chuckled. "A traitor. An outcast." The boy with her stayed silent the whole time.

Alexandria turned to the Grand Witch. "I hope that mass hasn't started yet? If not, I'd like to participate. That is," she eyed the other witches. "If you'll let me." They all gritted their teeth and became wary.

"Of course," the Grand Witch said. "All witches are welcome. Regardless of their background or ranking." The witches averted their gazes. Alexandria nodded.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

The mass ended.

"Let's go, brother." Alexandria pulled her hood back on her head as they began to leave. Suddenly, a knife came hurling through the air towards the twins. The girl whipped around and blocked the weapon with one of her schoolbooks. Right in front of her face. She smirked. "Oh, lookie look. A little welcome back gift. I think I'll just keep this, as a souvenir from the time I'll spend as the Outcast Witch."

With that, Alexandria turned on her heels and continued on her way. "Joma, joma. Dabarasa." The other witches glared at her as they left.

* * *

><p>"Lord Death!" Death Scythe stood in the Death Room in front of the Shinigami.<p>

"Why hello, Spirit! It's nice to see you. My, my, you seem rather down to business. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Yes, " he said. "I would like to see the profile of a certain student."  
>"Oh? And which student would that be? I can assure you, Maka is doing just fine. You can see for yourself—"<p>

"It's not Maka."

Lord Death was surprised. "Oh? Then who may it be?"

"That witch and her brother."

"Oh, you must mean Alexandria and Horace Baracs." As he spoke, the twins' school profiles popped up on his mirror.

Spirit blinked. "Baracs? You mean…?

"Yes," Lord Death sounded sorrowful. "Unfortunately, that is the case."

"But…why are they here now?"

"They had returned a little while ago, but never really explained their reasoning for doing so."

"If they do anything to Maka, I swear I'll—"

"Now, now Spirit," Lord Death cut in, "They won't do anything. Trust me."

Spirit still seemed a little skeptical, but nodded anyway. "Alright."

* * *

><p>The twins hadn't come back to the apartment last night. Soul was a little worried. Even Maka, who hated to admit it, was also concerned. However their unease was ended when they saw the two walk into the classroom the next morning. Maka and Soul exchanged weird looks as they took their seats. When Alexandria took out her schoolbooks, Maka blinked at the sight of a thin slit in one of them.<p>

But before she could say anything, Professor Stein rolled into the classroom and began to talk.

"Morning everyone!" he cried rather cheerfully. "Is everyone here?" He didn't give anytime for an answer. "Good! So I think we should continue with our project, don't you?" Again, he kept rambling on. "This week, you will be attempting to create a Soul Bondage with your partners. Can anyone tell me what a Soul Bondage is?"

Maka's hand shot up, naturally. Stein nodded at her to answer. "Soul Bondage is the bond between two soul wavelengths. This is needed especially with meisters and weapons so they'll recognize each other when they try to resonate."(1)

"Very good. Soul Resonance works best when you trust your partner. When you get to know them, connect with them," he continued. "This is the reason why everyone must live with their new partners: to heighten their wavelengths. So, you will be spending the entire day with your new partners to heighten your wavelengths. Once you think you have connected well enough, you will come to me and you will do a Resonance Test. Oh," he added. "And you must be able to resonate by the end of the week."

"Pfft," Alexandria scoffed a bit. "He makes it sound like we're married or something."

Baracs shook his head. "Only you would say something like that, Ali. Only you." She stuck his tongue at him in a playful manner.

The class hour passed and soon ended. The bell rang, signaling the beginning of morning break. Professor Stein suggested that they use this time to spend "quality time" together, whatever that meant. Soul and Maka split up to go find their respective partners. Soul found Alexandria under a tree outside and Maka met up with Baracs in the library.

Maka found the blue weapon sitting at a table towards the back of the second floor of the huge library. He was alone, his mind deeply focused on a book entitled, "Soul Wavelengths For Dummies."

She sat across from him, but he didn't even seem to notice her. He was too focused on his book. The two sat in silence, the only noise was the flip of paper when Baracs turned the page. Maka cleared her throat.

"Huh?" Baracs looked up. "Oh hey! Sorry, didn't see you there."

Maka smiled. "Hey. What're you doing?"

Baracs gestured the book. "Nothing really. Just..."

"Figuring out how everything works?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, yeah. I've never really worked with anyone except my sister, and the only reason we worked so well together was because we're related so…" he trailed off a bit. Maka nodded.  
>"Well, don't worry!" she assured. "It's not as hard as you think, trust me. You want me to show you how it works?"<p>

He nodded. "Yeah, sure."

"Well, first off we have to create a Soul Bondage like Professor Stein said. This will heighten our soul wavelengths and make it easier for us to resonate." Baracs nodded, taking in the information. "And then…"

~meanwhile…~

Soul found Alexandria sitting under a tree outside. As he approached her, he saw that she was petting a certain purple cat that was curled up in her lap. _When did Blair get here? And when did those two meet? _he thought. _Oh well. _Since her eyes where closed, Alexandria didn't see Soul as he stood there, hands in his pockets looking down at her.

"Hey." The witch popped an eye open.

"Hey," she responded. She gave Blair another stroke on her head, making the magical animal purr. Alexandria looked up at her new weapon. His head was tilted to the right a bit and his gaze was averted to the side. He blew some of his white bangs out of his eyes. In short, he looked rather bored. "You wanna pop a squat?" She patted the ground next to her. Soul accepted the invitation and sat.

"You…you guys didn't come back to the apartment last night," he said rather obviously.

"That's true. What about it?"

"Well, I just wanted to know…did you get into some sort of trouble?"

"Do you ask because you're concerned about me?" Alexandria asked as if she was asking how his day had been.

The weapon sighed. He could tell he wasn't going to get a straight answer from her anytime soon, so why bother pushing it? "Never mind," he said. Soul lifted a hand and pet Blair on the head. Alexandria was about to say something when Blair awoke. The cat-woman yawned and stretched on the witch's lap. When she caught sight of Soul a huge grin appeared on her face.

"Oh! My little Scythey Boy!" In a _pop! _Blair transformed into her human form and was smothering the poor teen to oblivion. She was on top of him, her…ahem…_assets _rather close to his face, making his nose spurt out blood. Blair continued to rub her womanhood in his face while Alexandria sweatdropped in the background.

"Uh, I was gonna ask if you wanted to try that Soul Bondage thing, but it seems you're a little busy at the moment." She got up and made a move to leave. Soul stuck a hand out.

"Ah, c'mon!" he cried, his voice muffled by Blair's body and giggling. "Help me!" Alexandria sighed. Something seemed to catch her eye a little ways away. She gasped.

"Blair, look!" She pointed towards the trees. "A mouse!" Blair immediately perked up.

"Where? Where?" she cried, vigorously looking around.

"I think it just ran into those bushes over there! C'mon!" Blair popped back into a cat and followed the witch. Once Blair had gotten a farther distance away, Alexandria stopped running and giggled. "Sucker. Hm?" She looked at Soul, who had a look on his face that was mixed with shock and tiredness. "What?"

"That's…all it took?"

She smiled and nodded. "You bet! Works every time." Soul let out an exasperated sigh and put his head in one of his hands. Alexandria crossed her arms and looked down at her weapon. "So, you wanna do this Soul Bondage thing Stein was talking about?"

Soul looked up at her.

~Maka and Baracs…~

"…so then both Soul Wavelengths are connected and amplified to make them twice as powerful as either are alone. You keeping up so far?" Maka said. She was in the middle of explaining how Soul Resonance worked to Baracs.

"Uh, kinda," Baracs responded a little uneasily. He was still confused on the whole collecting souls thing. Weapons here had to _eat_ them? Gross. Baracs wasn't so sure he was going to be able to do that…

"…and that's all there is to it!" he heard Maka say. Wait, what? Ah, crap. He had zoned out. What did she say? "So," Maka stood up. "You wanna try it?"

"Uh, try what exactly?"

"Baracs, were you even listening to me?" Maka felt like she was talking to Soul all over again.

He gave an embarrassed smile and put his hand behind his head. "Well, I heard you talking." Maka sighed and shook her head.

~Alexandria and Soul…~

"So, how exactly are we supposed to do this?" Alexandria and Soul stood facing each other. Soul shrugged.

"I don't really know," he admitted.

"Some help you are."

"Don't blame me. Maka's usually the one who knows all this kind of stuff, not me."

"Well, we're just gonna have to change that." She crossed her arms over her chest and flashed him a little smirk. "Aren't we?"

~Maka and Baracs~

Maka held up both of her hands with the palms facing outward. "So come on. Let's try it!" she said. Baracs blinked before setting his own hands against her's.

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" he asked nervously. After all, he had never "resonated" with anyone besides his sister. He'd had no reason too. Until now.

"Nope!" Well that was reassuring. "Oh, quit worrying. If you're not focused, then it won't work. Now," she took on a more serious tone. "Focus on you soul wavelengths, only on your soul wavelengths." Maka closed her eyes and started focusing all her energy on her own wavelengths. Baracs blinked before closing his eyes and doing the same.(2)

_Focus, _he thought. The word rang through his head as he obeyed. _Focus, focus…on my soul. _All he saw was darkness, until a green light appeared. It looked like a little fireball, the flames at the top licking the air around it. Baracs focused harder. The green ball began to pulse, it's light growing bigger and radiating off his face. _Harder…harder!_ The light pulsed faster and faster, the light shinning brighter, almost blinding him in his mind's eye. Suddenly, he felt the presence of another soul. _Maka…its Maka's soul! _he thought. He then saw it. Her's was blue and pulsing in the same way his was. _Now Baracs! _he heard Maka's voice cry in his head. _Connect with me! Now! While our wavelengths are still strong! _Baracs tried. He tried to reach her soul and connect with it with all of his strength. But he couldn't. He just couldn't. Something was holding him back. A promise. An eternal promise that he vowed he wouldn't break. _Baracs! I can't…hold on for…much longer… _Maka's voice was strained and it was getting softer and softer with each word. _Maka! _Baracs cried. _Maka…! _

And the world around him turned to complete darkness.

* * *

><p>"Gah~ how could this have happened?"(3)<p>

Kid groaned as he cowered on the floor with his butt in the air and mumbled nonsense. Liz stood over the OCD boy while Patty fell on her butt and laughed hysterically.

"What's the big deal?" Liz asked. "All we have to do is switch weapon partners." She honestly didn't see what the problem was.

"Don't you see? That's exactly the problem!" Kid cried in despair. "I have to switch weapons with _that _guy!" He pointed an accusing finger at Black Star, who was swinging from the giant chandelier that hung from the ceiling of the mansion's foyer.

"YAHOOOOO~!" the assassin cried, pumping his fist in the air. "Now I'm higher than all of you! Not that you were anywhere close to my height, but even so."

"Black Star!" Tsubaki called. "Please get down from there! You might break it and get hurt!" She was frantic.

"I wanted two weapons to preserve the beautiful symmetry I hold," Kid continued. Liz snickered, but didn't say anything. She didn't want to make Kid more obsessive than he actually was by pointing out the main flaw of his "beautiful symmetry": his hair. "I did it to avoid this exact situation! I won't be able to fight if I'm not symmetrical! Just the thought of fighting with just _one _weapon makes me sick. I can't do it! I simply can't!" From there, he broke down crying.

Liz pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. _God, how many times do we have to go through this? _She was tired enough as it is from school and trying to calm Black Star down to no avail. All she wanted was to take a nice hot bath and go to sleep. But considering the way things were going at the moment, sleep would have to wait for the time being. Plus, it's not like Patty ever tried to help anyways, so Liz would just have to solve this one on her own. As usual.

"Well…," Liz strained her mind for a solution. "Just think of it this way, Kid: if you have Tsubaki in her kasarigama mode, then you'll have the scythes in both hands and you'll still be symmetrical!"

Kid lifted his head ever so slightly, just so she could see his shadowed eyes. "That's true but…" He bolted up and clutched his head, yelling to the ceiling, "The thought that she has more than one mode and only ONE is symmetrical is just unbearable for me~!" Kid sank back down to his knees with his head in his hands, crying.

"You're such an impossible little brat!" Liz shouted.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" This was Patty…obviously.

"YAHOOOOOOOO~!" Who do you think?

"Black Star~! Please be careful!" Probably the only person there that _wasn't _on the verge of insanity…yet.

* * *

><p><em>Rain. It was raining. All around him. It was misty and raining. Baracs turned around and round but only to look upon whiteness. He knew that the ground he stood was cobblestone, so he was probably in the middle of a street somewhere. Then he heard noises. And voices. It sounded like explosions and grunts. Soon they came into view. <em>

_There were two figures. Both female. He couldn't make out the details because of the thick fog, but he could tell that one of them was holding a large weapon: a scythe. That only meant that one was a meister of sorts and the other…well, Baracs could only guess…_

"_Face it, __**witch**__." He figured that it was the one with the scythe who said this. "It's over."_

_He heard the witch give a light chuckle and could imagine her smirking. "Don't get too cocky, now," she teased. "You haven't taken my soul just yet."_

"_I could say the same for you," the other responded. She charged and swung the weapon at the witch. But she simply dodged and darted the opposite direction. The meister flipped around and charged again. Again and again the meister charged her opponent, and again and again the witch dodged and ran somewhere else, her smirk never faltering one bit. She was just too fast. _

_Soon, the witch had out run her opponent. The meister hunched over and was leaning on her scythe, panting breathlessly. The witch flipped her long hair like it was nothing. She chuckled. _

"_Well, it seems you're a little tired today," she sneered. The other girl glared at her. _

"_Shut…shut up."_

"_Humph. Then I guess today's round is done, don't you? Til next time…meister." The witch turned and began to walk away when suddenly the meister slashed her scythe at the other, slicing her arm wide open. The witch screamed out in pain as blood gushed out of the wound. Baracs tried to move to help, but he found that his feet were planted firmly on the ground. He couldn't move at all. _

"_You little bitch!" the witch cried, clutching her arm in pain. A large gash had been cut up her forearm to her shoulder. She was losing blood. And fast. _

"_Look whose talking," the scythe meister shot back. "Your soul is mine!" With that, the meister charged at the witch once more. However, the witch threw something down to the ground and a giant cloud of purple smoke erupted. Then it vaporized, and the witch was gone. The meister was left, looking around. _

_The white fog surrounded Baracs to closed the scene and soon everything faded to black once again. _

Baracs awoke with a start. His eyes flew open to met with a pure white ceiling. He panted and blinked a couple times, trying to familiarize himself with his surroundings.

"B-Baracs?" He looked to his left. There, sitting in a blue plastic chair, was Maka. There was a book in her hands that she had obviously been reading. "You okay?"

Baracs sat up and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. He was sweating. "Y-yeah," he answered shakily. "Ju-just a weird dr-dream." She nodded.

"Do you want some water, or—" Before she could finish, the door to the school infirmary was busted open by a certain overprotective redhead.

"MAKAAAAAAA~!" _Oh god, please not now… _Death Scythe practically flew to his daughter's side and started rambling another one of his crazy suspicions. "Papa's here to save you~!" he cried, smothering her. "Don't worry Maka, I won't let this dangerous boy to anything to you! And _you, _sir," he glared at the younger boy, who was sitting up in the bed, confusion obvious on his face. "Will not even _think _of touching my daughter, understand me?"

Baracs blinked. "I-I would never…" he trailed off, locking eyes with Death Scythe's. It was so intense and hard, he couldn't look away.

Death Scythe nodded. "Uh-huh! Just what I thought! Now, Maka," he turned to her and looked down at her. He held her out at arms length and scanned up and down her body. "He didn't do anything to you, did he? Right? Right?"

Maka sighed. "No, Papa. He didn't do _anything_."

After Death Scythe tried to get Maka out of the same room as Baracs, for fear of "something happening," and after Maka said him he was paranoid, Death Scythe said that he could never trust a guy like "him." He pointed his finger to Baracs.

"Papa!" Maka screamed, shocked her father would say something as idiotic and hypocritical as that. "You **should not** be the one to talk! Running around and "having a good time" when you **know** that you're married and have a daughter at home! Cheating on **every single** woman you happen to see! So you have **no right** to not trust Baracs when you don't even know him and when you **know** you've done way worse!"

Maka's rant was met with shocked silence. Baracs had never seen her so…so…_angry. _Death Scythe stared at his daughter with wide eyes. Maka had never _yelled _at him. Well, not like that anyway. He knew she resented him because of the reason for him and her mother's divorce, but he never knew that she would hate him. Maybe…she truly _did _hate him.

"Maka…" he started. Maka clenched her fists and looked away.

"Just go."

"Wh-what?"

"Go! Leave, now!" She jabbed a finger to the door. Death Scythe slowly lowered his eyes and walked to the door. And then he left.

When the door closed shut. Maka collapsed onto the bed and buried her head in her hands. Baracs said nothing. What could he say? He knew when to leave someone alone, after all, he knew when he wanted to be alone and he could read the signals. So he stayed quiet and let Maka recollect herself before she said anything.

"I'm sorry." Baracs gave her a confused look. "For…losing control of myself. I'm sorry you had to see something like that."

He shook his head. "No, no it's fine! Besides, it's better to just let it all out instead of bottling it up inside, you know?" Maka nodded and sighed. "So that was your dad?" Baracs usually wouldn't ask this right after something like that had happened, but he could tell Maka wanted to get something off her chest and the only way she was going to be able to do that was by talking it out a little.

"Unfortunately," Maka responded.

"Why don't you like him so much?" He hopped that Maka wouldn't think he was being nosy.

"It's just like I said: I'm sick of him cheating on every woman. He's such a player! Sometimes I question whether he even loved my mother to begin with. It's just…not fair." Baracs nodded in agreement. Maka sighed again. She turned to her weapon. "What about you? What're your parents like?" He had not anticipated this. No one usually asked anything like that to him. He was always the one whose shoulder was open for leaning on. But maybe…

Baracs shrugged like it was nothing. "Never knew the bastard."

Maka was taken aback. "I-I'm so sorry. I didn't—"

"Don't worry about it, Maka. You asked, I answered. It's no big deal."

"Yeah, but…" she paused. "You didn't _have _to answer it…" She didn't understand how he could be so nonchalant about a situation like that. Any other person would show at least _some _emotion. But maybe that was just it. Baracs wasn't _like _any other person. He was different. Cliché, but true.

"I know. But that was my choice," he commented. "You gotta beef with your dad? Same here. He was fresh out of high school. First year of college. There was a party. The prick was drunk. Played around with my mom and got her pregnant. When he found out he was the father, he did what any stereotypical college kid would: he ran away. Just packed up his things and left my mom to cope with twins by herself." Maka listened intently, shocked. "When her parents learned the truth, they disowned her. My mom was pretty much a loner since she was a kid, so she didn't really have any friends to turn to. She was all alone." Maka felt tears prick the corners of her eyes as she stared at the boy. His eyes were cast downward to his lap where he was twiddling his thumbs and his lips were in a hard thin line. He was so strong, and yet…

Baracs looked up when he felt a warm hand being placed over his own. Neon green eyes gazing into soft olive ones, Baracs felt something strange, something he hadn't felt in a long, long time.

He smiled and pulled away slightly. "Guess we all got Daddy issues, huh? But anyway," he continued. "I think you try and make things up with your dad. Hey, at least you still got one, right?" Maka just stared again. Baracs was a truly kind person. He was using his own misery and pain to help Maka solve her own problems. And the way he talked about his father…he showed no hint of hatred or love of the man. But he held strong, which was something Maka was never able to do.

"Yeah, right…" was all she could say.

Unbeknownst to the two of them, Professor Stein smiled from outside the infirmary door as he heard the conversation end. You remember the strange feeling Baracs had? Little did either Baracs or Maka know that that little feeling was a small spark in the pair's Soul Wavelengths.

* * *

><p>Soul leaned against the wall outside the school infirmary. He was waiting for someone. When they had heard the news, Alexandria wanted to visit her brother to make sure he was alright and everything. Soul was lost in his thoughts when the door opened. He pushed himself off the wall and turned to face Alexandria who was coming out.<p>

"Hey! So we can go now!"

"You don't want to wait for him?"

Alexandria shook her head. "Nah. They want to do one more check up before they let him go for the night, and I don't feel like sticking around for that. Besides, he said that we could go on ahead. Maka's gonna bring him home." Soul noted at how she didn't really care about Maka bringing Baracs back. Surely she would've normally refused something like that, especially of it was Maka. He also noted how she said "home." Home…

"So c'mon, let's go already!" The witch took Soul's hand and started to drag him out of the school.

"Wha? Hey, slow down!" Soul cried. He could hardly keep up. "Why are you in such a hurry? We're only going home!"

Alexandria made a noise that sounded like a buzzer, which was supposed to signal that Soul was wrong. "I wanna show you something! But we have to hurry, or you won't be able to see him!" At this, she started going faster, causing Soul to stumble behind her. _Him? _

The two ran out the front entrance and down the long staircase. The moon was already up and smirking down on Death City with its bloody mouth. Stein stood at the balcony of the school, gazing out into the lights of the city below with a cigarette smoking in his mouth. Then movement from down towards the main entrance caught his eye. Alexandria was running out and down the stairs with her fingers entwined with Soul's, who was trying to keep up behind her.

"Huh?" he said to no one in particular. "Where are those two going?"

The witch dragged her weapon all around town. The lampposts illuminated the streets they ran through, lighting their way. Soul was a little worried though. There were a lot of smart meisters who knew a witch when they saw one, and Alexandria's clothes were not going to be very helpful. However, as they ran, it appeared that they were the only ones out. How was that possible? Soon, Soul found that they were heading in a part of Death City that he didn't recognize. Where were they?

Suddenly Alexandria let go of Soul's hand and ran ahead. "Hey!" Soul shouted. She didn't listen as he saw her turn a corner into an alley. He ran after her. Before he turned the corner, he heard Alexandria's voice saying something.

"Aw, did you miss me? Sorry I'm so late! This one couldn't keep up," she jabbed a thumb at Soul as soon as he rounded the corner. He stopped. And stared. Before him, at the end of the alley, was a giant, blue beetle. It's head was nuzzling Alexandria's hand as she smiled at it and petted it's head with her other hand.

"So this is what you wanted to show me?" Soul asked, amazed.

Alexandria nodded excitedly. "Yeah!" When the beetle caught sight of Soul, it hissed at the unfamiliar face. This caused the boy to jump back and put his hands up in a "backing off" sort of way.

"Hey, down boy," Alexandria said, petting the bug's head. "Don't worry about him, he's okay." She turned to Soul. "Soul, this is Big Blue! He's my Scarab Beetle!"

"Scarab Beetle?"

She nodded. "You know how all witches have their own animal? Well, the Scarab Beetle is mine! I found this little guy in the desert once." _Little? _Soul thought. He watched as she petted Big Blue lovingly. The beetle returned the gesture by nuzzling her so much she fell over. Soul stepped forward to see if she was alright, but then realized that she was laughing. It was a sweet moment that made the scythe-boy smile. Alexandria got up and brushed herself off.

"What? Now? Are you sure?" Soul blinked. She seemed to be talking to the beetle. Then she smiled brightly and nodded. "Okay!" She turned to Soul. "He wants to give us a ride!"

"A ride? What?" She nodded, swinging her right leg over Big Blue's back and settled down.

"C'mon! Get on!"

Soul was hesitant. "Are…are you sure about this? I mean…"

"Do you trust me?"

"Huh?"

Alexandria stretched her hand down to the boy. "Do you trust me?" Soul looked like he was contemplating it, until he gave a small chuckle and took the girl's hand.

"Absolutely."

Alexandria hauled the boy up onto the giant bug. Soul landed behind her. She patted Big Blue on the head, signaling the beetle that both of them were on.

"Ready?" she looked back at Soul. He nodded.

"You bet."

"Alright then. Fair warning, you might wanna hold onto something!" Before Soul could ask what she meant by that, Big Blue launched into the air at impossible speed. Soul screamed.

"AAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHH!" She said hold onto something, and she meant it. However, the closest thing to Soul was Alexandria herself. So he instinctively wrapped his arms around the witch's small waist. She didn't seem to notice anything though. But Soul did. He noticed just how thin Alexandria actually was. _She's even skinnier than Maka, _he thought. _And that's saying something. _

"WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!" Alexandria screamed in delight. "Yeah! Faster, boy, faster!" Weren't they going fast enough? And she wanted to go faster? _She must be an adrenaline junkie or something. _Big Blue obeyed and flapped his thin wings even faster than they already were going. Alexandria's long high ponytail blew above Soul's head and whipped in the wind. The wind pierced at Soul's eyes and he closed them. Soul buried his head in the back of Alexandria's neck and pulled her back to his chest.

Alexandria felt Soul holding her tighter. She glanced back at him for a second. Then she smiled at little sympathetically. She leaned down and whispered to Big Blue, "Slow down, boy. This is high enough." Their flight slowly came to a pleasant hover.

"Open your eyes, Soul," she urged. She felt Soul shake his head against her back. The witch chuckled a little. "C'mon, Soul. Don't be such a baby!" She turned fully around to face him, but Soul kept his head down and it ended up in her chest. "Open them," she whispered.

Ever so slowly, Soul cracked open his crimson eyes. When he looked up, he gasped, causing his eyes to widen further. They were high above the city, looking down at the buildings. The entire city was aglow in the night air, the lights glistening against their faces. The moon seemed so close, Soul thought he could reach out and touch it. It was the most beautiful sight Soul had ever seen.

"_This_," he heard Alexandria say. "Is what I _really _wanted to show you."

"It…it's beautiful."

The witch's smile grew bigger as she looked at the look in Soul's eyes. "This is my secret place. But of course, with you here, it's not so secret anymore."

"But, why me?"

But she didn't answer. She simply kept on talking like she hadn't heard him at all. "Big Blue's amazing, isn't he?" Alexandria patted him on the head once more. "I found him in the desert, you know."

Soul nodded. "Yeah, you told me already."

"He was hurt so I took him home and fixed him up. He said he couldn't thank me enough and would never be able to pay me in return. So in exchange, I agreed to grant him any wish he wanted." She looked up at the night sky as a cool breeze blew by. "He told me that his one and only wish, was to not be small anymore. It was his size that got him hurt like that, and almost killed. So being a witch and all, I was more than happy to oblige. And well," she gestured to Big Blue. "Voila."

"Oh, I see. So is that how you picked your animal? Er, _bug _rather?"

"Mm!" She nodded. Then her expression changed to a sorrowful one as she looked back down to her lap. "But…since I'm part Meister, the Witch's Council doesn't exactly approve of my, er, existence. So, thus, they took away Big Blue, but they don't have the ability to take away my powers, so I still have those. But, they do let him visit me every few months! Only for a few hours, though. That's why I wanted you to hurry earlier. I was afraid we wouldn't get to him in time and they wouldn't let me see for a long, long time," she explained.

"That…doesn't seem very fair," Soul commented.

Alexandria shrugged. "It is what it is. But at least I get to see him, right? It's better than not getting to see him at all." Soul looked at the girl before him. She really was a strange one. Just a week ago, she was ridiculing everything she heard and now, she was finding the positive side in everything. Was she bi-polar or something?

Even though Soul was thinking all of this, he said none of it. He simply smiled and nodded. He moved his hand to place it on her's. The witch looked down in surprise and blinked.

"I'm not so sure why you chose to show me this of all people," he began. "But I'm really glad that you did."(4) Alexandria stared at him for a moment, before smiling and squeezing his hand, returning the gesture. The two sat in content silence as they floated above and gazed down at the night lights, taking in the beautiful scene before them.

Both Maka and Soul had felt something that day. It was a small spark in both of their souls. They had both spent "quality time" with their partners, just like Stein had asked them to. And in turn, all four of them had gained something from it. Because both Alexandria and Baracs had revealed a little something personal about themselves, the Soul Bondage between them and their partners began to flicker that day. It was a sign that both would have no trouble at all connecting with their new partners and that their Bondage would be strong and their Wavelengths would connect even better when it came time for either of them to Resonate. However, it also showed them something of greater importance: they had found a friend.

* * *

><p>1-I honestly have no idea if this is true, I'm just making it up as I go along.<p>

2-Again, i have no idea if this is how they're supposed to do it.

3-Hopefully, Kid seems a little more in character here...

4-Yeah...I'm not so sure Soul would say something like that, or act that way for that matter...but oh well. it works.

A/N:Well that was a nice note to end on! Didja like it? And I apologize for any OOCness. though hopefully Kid, Black Star, Tsubaki, Liz and Patty seem a little more so. It came to my attention in the last few chappies that Kid was _very_ OOC (according to my stupid brother...) And i kinda tend to make them OOC without meaning to so...Je regrette! (bows) Til next time (who knows when _that _will be?) PEACE! X3

Chapter 6: ...any ideas?


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: ^^' Hehehe...been a while, ain't it? *dodges various objects being thrown at her, including a giant frying pan...* I'm Sorry! But unlike some people on this site, i actually **have** a life! (no offense intended) I know, I know, i'm a terrible person and blah blah blah. So now, instead of filling this author's note with all the random excuses for my lateness, i'm just gonna give you the chatper. so here.

Disclaimer: i'm don't even wanna bother...

Warnings: language(?), vagueness, most likely OOCness, my bad writing skills, the return of old characters...oh yeah! and confusion, maybe...

* * *

><p>Chapter 6: Restless Days: Strange Dreams and Confused Feelings?<p>

_Swing. Slash. Dodge. Attack. Charge. Repeat the pattern. She fought hard. She was sweating and panting. Every time the meister would attack her opponent, the witch would dodge and run somewhere else. It was so frustrating! _

_ "C'mon -" a voice said. It sounded like it was coming from the scythe she clutched in both hands. It was a man. He said the name, but somehow it was muted out. "We got this!"_

_ "I don't know, -" she panted. Again the weapon's name was muted out, but it was still said. "She's getting better and better every time." She glared at the witch, who smirked at the pair from down the alleyway. _

_ "No," the weapon disagreed. "She's just getting to you. She's making you phsyc yourself out. She doesn't have any skills at all." _

_ "Well?" the witch called out to them. She lifted her arms in a shrugging manner. "Are we going to fight, or are we just gonna stand here all night? It's raining, you know." It was true. The clouds were lightly releasing small water droplets from the sky. _

_ "I don't know, are we?" the meister countered. "You're the one who's always running away. Why don't you __**stand up**__ and __**fight back**__ for once!" With that, the girl charged forward, scythe ready to strike. But the witch dodged the attack at the last minute and punched the girl in the stomach. The force of the blow sent the meister flying backwards, where she landed on the ground with a _thud! _But no matter how much she tried, the girl couldn't move. She was paralyzed. The damn bitch had put a spell on her!_ _The witch giggled as she walked up to the collapsed girl. She smirked down at her and began to raise her hand. Suddenly, the scythe that had been laying beside the girl materialized into a young boy of about 15 years old. He glared at the witch as he stood over his meister protectively. _

_ "Don't you dare touch her," he growled. The witch looked down at the boy with an expressionless face. She chuckled._

_ "And if I do?" she challenged. The boy gritted his teeth._

_ "Then you'll have to kill me, before you can get to her." The girl underneath him began to stir. She croaked out his name, but it was only above a whisper. _

_ The witch smirked again. "I think that's a chance I'll be willing to take." Purple electricity crackled around her hand as she raised it and began to chant. "Snake of the lake; give me your energy. Electric serpent; feed me your power." A small electric eel wound its way around the witch's arm and bared its fangs. The purple electricity glowed brighter and crackled louder. "Shock Seizure!" The witch grabbed onto the boy's head and the power of the electric current wracked his whole body. He screamed. _

Maka woke up screaming. She bolted up in her bed, panting heavily. Her eyes were wide with fear. After she calmed down a bit, Maka wiped the back of her hand across her forehead. She had been cold sweating. Luckily, everyone in the house was a heavy sleeper, so no one had woken up to check on her. The images of the vivid nightmare flashed through her mind and she clutched her head and shut her eyes tightly in hopes they would just disappear. They didn't. Maka couldn't sleep at all that night.

* * *

><p>Something was wrong. Maka was acting rather out of character today. She was usually quiet and kept to herself. She managed to rub the sleep from her eyes and paste a small smile on, but it was sickening to her. Even Alexandria saw that Maka wasn't in the mood for a prissy-fight and decided to lay low. At breakfast, she started up a conversation with Baracs and Soul about how annoying Black Star was. Maka couldn't help but feel a bit of gratitude towards the witch. She was purposely turning the attention away from Maka so she wouldn't be bombed with questions and worry from her friends. For once, she was glad Alexandria was a little bit of an attention hog…<p>

"Hey~! Maka, Soul, Baracs! Hurry up!" Alexandria had run ahead of them and was already at the top of the stairs of the academy. Soul and Maka walked up side-by-side with Baracs stumbling up the stairs behind them. A hand was on his chest and he was panting and sweating.

The trio was waiting for the weapon for 5 minutes when Baracs finally came to the top. He hunched over and tried to catch his breath. Alexandria crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

"Dude, you are so out of shape."

"Shut…" gasp, gasp. "…shut up."

"Whatever. C'mon, let's go already!" Maka glanced at the witch. She was awfully loud today. More so than usual. Soul looked over at Maka worriedly. She sort of had this blank look on her face. Like she wasn't thinking on her own, if that makes sense. She kind of looked…dead.

"Hey, Maka." Soul waved a hand in front of her face when she didn't respond. "You ok?"

Maka snapped her head at him. "Huh? Oh! Y-yeah! I'm fine, Soul. Don't worry about me!" She tried to smile to prove it, but it felt so fake it was disgusting. The struggling attempt to move her face muscles in an upward movement felt completely foreign to her. Maka was defiantly not herself today.

When they got right inside the door, Alexandria turned around to face the other two. "Hey, so we're gonna go back to the nurse, infirmary place cause they wanna do another check up on Baracs to make sure he's okay and stuff. Kay? We'll see you guys laters!" With that, the hyperactive witch grabbed her twin by the wrist and dragged him down another hall.

Soul and Maka continued to walk towards their classroom. Along the way, they met up with the rest of the gang: Black Star, Tsubaki, Kid and Liz and Patty. There appeared to be something going on down by the Mission Boards. Almost everyone was crowded around and talking all at once.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Maka asked.

Liz blinked. "You mean you haven't heard about it?"

"C'mon you guys, it's obviously about what a big guy I am! What else would anyone talk about?" Black Star grinned as Tsubaki sweatdropped.

"Dude, I'm sure anyone could find a subject way more interesting and less annoying than you," Soul retorted.

"HOW DARE YOU INSULT YOUR AWESOME GOD! You're gonna pay for that Soul!" Black Star lunged at Soul and the two started wrestling on the floor. Kid walked up the rest of them oh-so-calmly.

"No, Black Star, it has nothing to do with you," he sounded irritated. The assassin looked up Kid. "Huh?"

"It's only a new mission that's been posted." He gestured to the billboard. On it was a brand new mission. It read:

NEW MISSION:

The obtainment of the soul of:

The PUPPET WITCH

The gang stared at it for a while before Black Star went, "Who's the Puppet Witch?"

It was Tsubaki who answered. "A very powerful witch. It is said that she has the ability to take over her victims by using the Eye of Secrets. It looks into the person's soul, into their darkest, deepest secrets. She using those secrets against her targets, causing them to go insane."

Kid continued for her. "She uses her victims as slaves, to serve in her castle for all eternity. She feeds off their souls and their minds are slowly being eaten away, until all that remains of them is an empty shell. This is why she is called the _Puppet_ Witch: she turns all who enter her castle into mindless dolls and controls them by pulling strings in their minds. Anyone who has ever gone as never returned."

Everyone was silent. If you think about, this sort of thing shouldn't have been that big of a shock to any of them, considering they had to fight people like this everyday, but it still was. It was just that they had never had a fully detailed description of the target like that. It was rather intimidating.

But then Black Star went, "Oh is _that _it? Are you kidding me, I could take down that sissy witch in record time! No way is that lady gonna get to me! I'm too big for her stupid little tricks!" Before Black Star could rush off to accept the mission, the sound of the bell rang through the hallways, causing everyone to disperse and report to their respective classrooms.

~Meanwhile…~

The touch of the stethoscope on Baracs's bare chest sent chills down his spine. It was cold.

"Ok, now breath deeply for me," the nurse said. As he obeyed, the nurse moved the medical instrument up and down to different regions of his chest. The boy couldn't help but blush just _a little. _When it came to his body, Baracs was rather insecure, despite the cool I-don't-give-a-crap-about-appearances demeanor he gave off. Plus, his twin sister was watching him…

It was true. Alexandria had insisted on sitting in with him to see his diagnostics for herself so she could be sure that there was nothing wrong with him. She was currently sitting on one of the beds, swinging her legs off the side and looking around the room. She really _was _mean at times. Baracs didn't like it when she teased him like that…

/a few minutes earlier…/

A cheerful looking nurse entered the infirmary and smiled warmly at the siblings. "Hello there," she greeted. "I'm Dr. Medusa, Head Nurse of the DWMA. I assume you two are the famous Baracs twins I've heard about?"**(1)**

Alexandria simply nodded while Baracs stood up from the bed they were sitting on to greet the woman formally.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Medusa," Baracs smiled and held out his hand.

Medusa blinked before saying, "My, what a polite young boy you are!" Alexandria rolled her eyes as Baracs blushed in embarrassment. _He can be such a sissy sometimes…_

When Dr. Medusa had gathered all of equipment necessary for the check up, she asked Baracs to sit in the desk chair across from her. Alexandria hopped back up on the bed. That's when it happened…

"I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to have to ask you to take your shirt off, Baracs." You might as well brew tea at the temperature Baracs's face was burning. His sister couldn't help but snicker a bit.

The weapon fumbled with the end of his shirt for a second, obviously trying to stall for time. "U-um…well, I mean…Erm, I guess…it's not that I, uh…it's just…" Alexandria couldn't help but think her brother was kinda cute, the way he avoided any type of eye contact, the way he blushed uncontrollably when asked a question or heard a comment like the one before…he was so innocent…**(2) **

WHOA! Back it up, Alexandria! What the hell was she thinking? This was her big brother she was talking, er, _thinking_ about! She couldn't just go around with those kinds of thoughts in her head! Bad thoughts! Stupid brain! (A/N: wow, I'm getting _really _off-topic here…)

After chasing away bad thoughts and mental images that would probably make Soul have a nosebleed, Alexandria regained her composure and her signature smirk played across her lips.

"Is Big Bwother embawessed?" she mocked in a baby voice. Baracs shot her a deadly glare that could be compared to her own. She responded by simply smirked a little wider. "Do you need to go behind the curtain to have some privacy?" she continued. "Huh~?" His face burned even more.

Concerned, (A/N: or seemingly…) Medusa said, "If you're uncomfortable, I can get Professor Stein to do the check up instead…" Baracs shook his head vigorously. No way was he gonna let that dissecting-loving sadist touch him! He'd rather…well, he'd rather do _anything _but that.

"No, no! I-I mean, I'm fine," he stumbled out. Aware that Alexandria's smirk was only getting bigger, Baracs stood up as calmly as he could and started to pull his tee shirt over his head. As soon as he did, he was hit with the cold chill of the infirmary and little goose bumps formed on his arms. Alexandria let out a whistle.

This was going to be a _very _long day…

/back to the present…/

"Well," Medusa started. "You seem to be doing fine now, but I do believe I observed some heart rate change?" She raised an eyebrow. **(3) **

Baracs nodded. "Yeah, climbing up those stairs can be a bitch." He laughed nervously.

"Nevertheless, the average person of your age should be able to climb those stairs without being that much out of breath. And from the other tests I've run, it seems that you are very much in shape." Baracs shot a look towards his sister, who was examining her nails as is she didn't hear a thing. "Is there something else?"

"Brother has asthma," Alexandria announced bluntly. Baracs lowered his eyes.

The nurse nodded. "Oh I see." She began writing things on her clipboard. "Have you had an attack recently?" He shook his head.

"Not since I was 7." She wrote one last thing down and then looked up at him, a bright smile plastered on his face.

"Well, I think that's all I need! Thanks, Baracs," she nodded to the witch. "Alexandria. You both may head out to class now."

Alexandria hopped off the bed and waited for her brother as he, thankfully, redressed himself. After a stiff 'thank you' and a few bows, the twins made their way out of the school infirmary. There was an icy silence that settled over the pair as they walked through the empty halls. That is, until they saw a certain white haired weapon walking their way.

"Soul!" Baracs said. Alexandria immediately jerked her head up and looked at Soul with wide eyes.

"Hey," Soul said casually. "They need us in the Death Room. We're excused from class." He nodded to Alexandria. She blinked.

"He…he wants to see us?" Her finger wagged between her and Soul while Baracs simply looked back and forth between the two. Soul's answer was affirmative.

"So…I guess I'll catch you later?" Alexandria gave her twin a weak smile. He blinked and then nodded.

"Yeah! I'll see ya!" Then he turned on his heels and hurried back to the classroom. The witch watched him go before turning back to Soul and holding her arm out.

"Well, shall we go?" she asked in a playful British accent. Soul blinked and then grinned, linking his arm with hers.

"You bet." And with that, they were off.

* * *

><p><em>The witch gritted her teeth as the meister advanced on her, cornering her in a small alleyway. Damn, she should've gotten home faster. Spotting the witch, the meister and her weapon had chased after her until they had her cornered as they did now.<em>

_ She breathed heavily as she wiped water droplets from her face. Damn this crazy weather, it was raining again! _

_ "It ends here, witch," the meister spat, looking quite satisfied with herself._

_ "D-don't get overconfident n-now. Might jinx y-yourself," the witch retorted trying to come off cool and collected. But in truth, she was panicking inside. She didn't have time for this She had to get home! Back to—_

_ Her thoughts were cut short when the meister charged at her, scythe raised high. She quickly dodged and went with her own attack. Purple electricity crackled on her hands. The witch threw electricity bolts at the meister, once after the other. The meister in turn either dodged them or tried to deflect them with her weapon. The ground behind her exploded and the debris flew up into the air. The rain started to come down harder. _

_ The witch continued to throw electricity bolts at the pair as she flew back. When she was a considerable distance away, their positions were opposite than before; the meister was at the end of the alley while the witch was at the front. Seeing her chance, the witch spun around and ran out into the street. The meister straightened up in surprise._

_ "Hey!"_

_ The witch didn't hear her. She kept running, the rain coming down harder and harder with each step she took, each pant she breathed. She cried out in surprise when the meister suddenly jumped down in front of her. Out of instinct, the witch had drawn her arm out in front of her face, which resulted in her arm getting cut._

_ "We're not done quite yet," the meister growled._

_ The witch pushed back against the blade and bit back a scream as the scythe dug deeper into her skin. With a grunt, she pushed back and used the force to fly back a few feet. She landed and glanced at her arm. A long cut ran up her arm and ran deep. She watched as the rain started to wash her blood away and onto the cobblestone street. _

_ She gritted her teeth. She couldn't risk another blow like this. She had no choice but to fight back. She had to break her promise…_

_ Suddenly the witch pulled out her own weapon—a whip. Not to the meister's surprise, when she cracked it, electricity crackled at its tip. The witch cracked her whip and thunder sounded as the leather broke the sound barrier. _

_ "Let's go." And she charged._

* * *

><p>"Witch Hunter!" Maka shot up out of her seat. The class went silent and everyone snapped their heads to stare at her. Then they stared laughing.<p>

Maka blinked, now fully awake, and looked around at her classmates. She saw they were all laughing at her. She flushed and sat back down. After class, Maka and Baracs met the others by the mission boards.

"Hey Maka, are you okay?" Liz asked, giving her a worried look. "That's not like you to doze off in class like that. Is something wrong?"

"Oh on, it's nothing! I just haven't been getting very much sleep, that's all. I'm fine, really!" Maka gave an awkward smile. Liz didn't seem convinced and shot Tsubaki a look. Tsubaki nodded. They decided to let it go for now and turned the conversation over to other things. Baracs stayed silent the whole time. He stood against the wall, hands in pockets, one foot up on the wall and blew his bangs out of his eyes.

Halfway into their conversation about a get-together they'd planned for this weekend, Baracs pushed off the wall and said, "Hey Maka!" She turned. "I'll be right back. Gotta pee." She made a weird face, nodded and then turned back to the other girls. He walked off.

~on the way to the bathroom…~

Baracs walked down the hall with his hands behind his head, daydreaming. Until he saw Kid walking towards him. His face lit up the sight of his friend. Truth be told, even if they were in the same class, the twins rarely saw the shinigami outside of classes. He missed him.

They both stopped walking when they were about 2 feet apart. Both boys stared at each other before Baracs broke out in a smile. Kid followed suit and they high fived each other.

"Hey Kid, haven't seen you in a while," Baracs said. "Ali misses you."

Kid smiled a bit sadly. "How is she? Alexandria."

The twin shrugged. "You know she barely tells me anything these days. But, she seems to be doing alright. Just pushing through the whole partner switching thing, ya know?" Kid nodded. "Hey are you okay?" Baracs leaned down a bit to get a better view of Kid's face. "You seem kind of out of it."

"Horace," Kid fully looked at him. Baracs blinked in surprise. Nobody, not even his sister, _nobody _had called him by his first name in _years_. Everybody knew how much he hated it, so why would Kid do it all of a sudden? Unless…

"I…I don't think the three of us should be seen together anymore."

Baracs blinked. Then his face darkened drastically. "What are you trying to say?"

"I mean, just think about it: the son of Lord Death, a shinigami, best friends with a _witch_? One with a _weapon, _at that. It just doesn't look good. If we just…" Kid continued and tried to explain his reasoning, but Baracs didn't hear him. His bangs fell over his face and his fists clenched by his sides.

"'Doesn't look good'?" he growled. It doesn't _look _good? What the hell was _that _supposed to mean?

"Kid," Baracs said unexpectedly, cutting the other boy off mid-sentence. "Tell me…" He stepped forward. Kid stepped back. "What exactly does Alexandria mean to you?" As he spoke, Baracs kept stepping forward, which made Kid keep stepping back until he ran into the wall.

"Wh-what…does she…mean to me?" Kid repeated. Laughing nervously, he said, "T-that's such a silly question! She's my best friend! So are you!" **(4) **

"Really? Because I thought you cared about her. I thought you would do anything for her." Baracs's voice began to rise as his body started to shake violently. "I thought you would die for her." Finally he all but screamed, "I thought you loved her!" The boy slammed his hand on the wall above Kid's head, effectively trapping him.

"And I thought you were supposed to protect her!" Kid shot back. This caught Baracs off guard. That's right. After all this time, he had forgotten his duty, his reason for living. He had to protect Alexandria. He was like her big brother—no, he _was _her big brother, and had to keep his little sister from any kind of harm.

Their…"conversation" was interrupted by the sound of the PA going off. It said, "Meister Maka and Baracs please report to the Death Room. Meister Maka…" As it repeated the message, Kid looked away.

"You should go," he said. Without another word, he began walking back in the direction Baracs had come from. The blue weapon watched him go before standing straight up and hurrying down the hall. After all, he still had to pee…

* * *

><p>By the time Baracs made it to the Death Room and walked the long hallway of guillotines, Maka, Soul and Alexandria were already there.<p>

"There you are!" Alexandria called from her perch atop the mirror. "It's about time! You took so long I taught myself how to french braid my own hair." To prove it, she held out her hair that was indeed in a perfect French Braid. Soul was slumped against the bottom of the mirror, hands in his jacket pockets and eyes closed. Maka stood off to the side.

Baracs shook off his sister's comment. "Well I'm here now. What's he want?"

"Dunno. He wasn't here when we came, and hasn't been here since." She shrugged, twirling a flyaway strand of hair between her fingers.

Maka stepped forward. "Here, I'll call him." She stood in front of the mirror and breathed on it. Baracs nudged Soul with his foot. Alexandria jumped down from her spot, landing softly on her brother's back. They all gathered around the mirror as Maka started to drag her fingers across the glass. The twins looked on with curiosity in their eyes, for they didn't know about Lord Death and his mirror. She was writing something. "42-42-564. Whenever you wanna knock on Death's door…" Then light, blue-colored ripples wrinkled the perfect glass and a warped ringing noise could be heard. Suddenly, their reflections in the mirror vanished, and soon the mirror was no longer a mirror. It was a screen.

"Hallo, hallo all! Thanks for coming on such short notice." The image of Lord Death appeared on the screen.

"Meister Maka reporting," Maka said.

Following her lead, Alexandria announced, "And Witch Alexandria here too."

"Well," Soul said. "What is it? What do you want with us?"

"Right. Well, I have a little assignment for you four…"

"It's not another one of those Remedial Lessons, is it?" Soul whined, remembering their first encounter with Professor Stein. "That was so not cool."

"No, no. No need to worry about something like that," he replied. He leaned forward as his cartoonish hand popped up with a _twang _noise. "I'm sending you after a very powerful witch…" Baracs felt Alexandria tense up.

"Huh? You mean the Puppet Witch?" Maka guessed.

Lord Death pulled back. "Mm-hm! That's right! The Puppet Witch has been on the move lately, collecting more and more souls each day. I figured the best way to take her down was by using one of the best meisters in the academy and a witch!"

It made sense really. By sending a witch on a mission like this one, they could easily track her down and defeat her. After all, it takes a outcast to catch an outcast.

"Don't worry, Lord Death!" Maka suddenly said. "We won't disappoint you!"

He nodded. "I believe in you four. However there is something rather important you should know about this witch…Perhaps you've already heard the rumors?"

"You mean about how she can look into your soul and use your secrets to bend your mind to her will? Not to mention go insane…" To the others' surprise, it was Baracs who said this. How did he know that? Maka was sure that he wasn't there when Kid and Tsubaki gave the explanation. He was at the nurse's right? So then…

"How do you know that?" Soul asked. Baracs stared at the floor. It was Alexandria who answered.

"We've had…_dealings _in the past," she said cryptically, her face completely void of any emotion. "We'll just leave it at that." And they did.

* * *

><p><strong>(1) - XD haha! Medusa is BACK bitches! ftw! <strong>

**(2) - is it...could it be...TWINCEST? :O lolz jk, i really have no idea where that came from so just go with it...**

**(3) - yes, i know it doesn't make sense, but i know nothing about doctor-y stuff so just go with it...**

**(4) - once again, prime example of OOCness. I just can't see Kid addressing this kind of situation (or any kind of situation involving "feelings") while staying in character. It just doesn't click well with me.**

A/N: Yeah, I know it's short and it's a filler but I figured you guys would like a short chapter as opposed to no chapter, right? Anyhoo, the next chapter will be super intense and action-y! I've already got it planned out in my head. Now comes the hard part: writing it. Wish me luck! Review, please?

Chapter 7: The First Mission: Secrets of Revenge Revealed?


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